The Ultimate Betrayar
by Marie The Crocheter
Summary: IT'S BEEN UPDATED! Amazing! I did abandon it, but, well, read the author's notes! Anyway, read! (This is mostly based off Paper Mario.)
1. The Introduction!!

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(This is my first attempt at a new adventure that is actually rather serious. As you see, I _love_ making up new characters. This forst chapter might drag a bit, but I'm setting up the stage; introducing some of the characters and their circumstances.  
Mario, and the Mario-related characters don't belong to me, they are copyrighted to Nintendo, etc... However, this story is mine, and the following characters in this chapter: Betrayar, Deceptar, Kaphooey, Mayuri, Yoshimi, and Shy Gurl, are also of my own creation. Deceptar has the ability to shape-change, but he won't use it yet.  
Since this is my first attempt at a "new adventure" type of story, please go easy on me, OK? I'd appreciate gentle flames and also appreciate any suggestions for characters and such. Please enjoy!!)

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The Ultimate Betrayar  
Chapter 1: The Introduction!!

Late one night, in the Star Haven, two certain stars were trying to complete their experiment

"Are ya sure this'll work?" one of them asked. 

"Have I ever failed you?" asked the other.

"Yeah, like the time ya"

"TRUST ME THIS TIME!" The star typed something on a computer. "Stand by the generator, please."

"Are ya sure this'll work, Betrayar?"

"Trust me, my dear friend!

"OK Give me the power, th'n."

"Certainly." Betrayar continued typing. "Hold it right there, and if it doesn't work, you have my permission to sue me in a heartbeat, OK?"

"In a heartbeat."

"Ready? This may feel a little weird."

"I'll tell ya if I survive it."

"OK"

Betrayar pressed the ENTER key and a beam of light appeared around the generator, engulfing Deceptar in a circle of blue light. Deceptar made a face. _I'm not gonna make it, _he thought, _Ooh, Betrayar's gonna_

Click. Betrayar hit ENTER again to stop it. "That's long enough," he said. "Try it, please."

"I'm still alive?"

"Yes, you idiot! Try it!"

"OK" Deceptar looked at Betrayar, making a wish that he could look just like him. Immediately, he turned into Betrayar!

"Ooh! It worked, pardner!" Deceptar exclaimed. "If we do this on the Star Spirits, there ain't gonna be _anyone _who can stop us!"

"SHH!" Betrayar scolded, "Quiet, you hick; they'll hear! Yes, once we impersonate a Star Spirit and steal the Star Rod, it's all ours!"

"Heh heh, but I heard a rumor" Deceptar trailed off.

"What?"

"That durn Skolar's been comin' up with some force field to protect the Star Rod," Deceptar told him. "We gotta get it fore he finishes!"

"Yeah, I heard that too. So we have to get it _tomorrow night!"_

"But it shouldn't be hard, right?"

"Absolutely. Now, to call our partner back down on the planet"

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Down on the planet, whatever planet that may be, the evil star's partner was in bed, fast asleep, when he got the call.

"RIIIIING! RIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIII—"

Grumbling to himself, he picked it up on the third ring. "Hello? Whoever you are, you better have a darned good excuse for calling me at 2 AM"

"Indeed I do."

"Betrayar!" the beast was instantly awake. "What's up?!"

"Well, my dear friend, I warn you to begin your lookout on the good guys now. You see, we will have to act sooner than I thought to steal the Star Rod, and you know what your job is"

"Make sure that neither Mario or any of his cotton-pan friends stop you," the beast continued. "Yeah, I know."

"Very good, Wart. So, tell me, do you have your gang ready?"

"Yeah! I kept meaning to tell you, I created this machine that can turn any normal vegetable into an evil super-intelligent one. Well It kind of messed up after I made three super-intelligent ones, but, still, at least they're evil."

A long silence on Betrayar's part. _I thought he hated veggies; now he's making an army?! This makes no sense But, as long as they're evil, I guess it doesn't matter _"Wart, I am just hoping that you don't fail. IF YOU DO, I'll make sure that none of your wishes ever come true, that's a promise!"

"Heh heh, don't worry. No one can stop these evil veggies! Mario and all his friends will be at a total loss of what to do! And, by the way, if you kick the Star Spirits out of Star Haven, they can't nullify the power of the Rod, can they?"

"They can't," Betrayar answered. "I have taken certain precautions But, there is even something to be concerned about there: there is a certain Star Kid, by the name of Twink, who I would say is quite close power-wise to a Star Spirit. If the Star Spirits and Twink work together, they could null it."

"Oh so you have to get rid of him, too?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well, I'll make sure that the Star Spirits and this Twink are taken to remote places and held by some of my evil veggies."

"That's not good enough. You must do more."

"What kind of more?"

"DISPOSE OF THEM!"

"Oh, okay"

"I will send them directly to you," Betrayar continued, "and you'd better dispose of them right away!"

"Yes, Master Betrayar."

"Don't fail me. I'm counting on you." With that, Betrayar hung up. Wart did too.

"Ooh, I can't believe Betrayar chose me for this," he yawned, getting back in bed. "The Mushroom World's wishes will _never_ come true again!!"

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Down on the planet, they had no idea what was about to happen. A few had noticed some weird things, but for the most part, all was going well

There'd been a few changes. Tubba Blubba had permanently moved out of his castle in Gusty Gulch and escaped to who knows where and now two weirdoes, by the name of Wario and Waluigi, along with their pet birds, Hen and Kaphooey, had moved in.

"Maybe this will give it time for all those Fuzzies to get out of Wario Land," Wario reasoned. "Where did those come from, anyway?"

"I don't know," Waluigi answered. "At least we're closer to Mario, so we can pick on him!" The two began to laugh evilly, until

"BLEEEEHHH!"

"AH! WHAT THE?!" Wario and Waluigi looked around, but saw no one. "Huh?"

"Hee hee, I can see you, but can you see me?!"

"Oh, great. You mean this place is _haunted?!"_ Wario muttered. "No wonder it was so cheap."

"Yep! Hey, behind you!" Wario and Waluigi turned around to see a beige ghost there. "Just to let you know, we pretty much run this place! Heh heh heh! See that abandoned town at the foot of the hill?"

"Yeeeees"

"That's our town! Heh heh, only the _bravest _people go there! Or friends of Mario!"

"Friends of Mario?!" Waluigi and Wario looked at each other, getting the same idea. "Do they come here often?" Waluigi asked.

"Yeah," the Boo answered. "In fact, one of Mario's friends lives or whatever we Boos do, in the nearby Forever Forest. Betcha would be too chicken to meet her, though!"

"Don't talk about chickens in that way!" Wario exclaimed, then added, "Meet? Oh, we'll see"

Once the Boo had left, Wario and Waluigi grinned at each other. "One of Mario's friends, not far from here," Wario chuckled. "Oh, yeah! Prank time!"

"Let's do our best," Waluigi agreed, "No one will forget the names Waluigi' and Wario' after this! Nya ha ha ha ha!"

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Far away, in the Shiver Region, Professor Kolorado had _finally_ gotten around to going to the Crystal Palace. This time, though, in addition to his two usual colleagues, he also had Kooper and his wife with him.

Kooper was looking at a map. "Hmm, hmm, whoever drew this map was way off, geez"

"You still remember how to get around, don't you, dear boy?" Kolorado asked.

"Oh, yeah, I do!" Kooper answered, putting the map away. "Let's just hope the shape-changing ghosts, the white Clubbas, and Pararera the Crystal King' don't hang around anymore. They could be trouble."

"It's so beautiful," Mrs. Kolorado breathed, "This is truly a place where dreams come true!"

"See, my dear, I knew you would like it," Kolorado chuckled. "Let us go! Not a moment to spare!"

As they entered the palace, though, they were being watched

My palace, the watcher was thinking, _It _should_ be mine. They dare disturb it?! Well, maybe they won't. I'll watch and see. But no one goes into the palace without being watched by Pararera the Crystal King! _Pararera turned invisible, to transport himself to the top of the palace. However, there was already a Pararera there 

"Hey, you!" the real Pararera scolded, "I told you to stop that!"

"Sorry" the shape-changing ghost turned back into his normal self, "I didn't think you'd be back that fast"

"Lame excuse," Pararera growled. "Listen, you, follow those Koopa Troopas who just entered the palace. Make sure they're not up to anything bad for us!"

"Yes, Boss."

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Farther away still, in the Dry Dry Desert, Moustafa was inspecting the Dry Dry Ruins. The damage that had been done by Tutankoopa wasn't as bad as he thought

"The Chomps scraped things up, but not as bad as I thought," he told Little Mouser. "Please make a note of that."

"Yes, sir," Little Mouser did so, "Anything else?" 

"Hmm, not now" Moustafa and Little Mouser walked out of the ruins and headed back to town. "Who is running your store right now?" Moustafa asked. 

"The human girl apprentice I have," Little Mouser answered. "Mayuri."

"Ah, yes, her," Moustafa nodded, remembering, "She is new to Dry Dry Outpost, isn't she?"

"Yes, sir. Her records show that she is an orphan from Rose Town and that's all. Nothing else."

Once Little Mouser got back to his store, Mayuri handed the job of handling customers back to Little Mouser and went to her usual job of shelving items. A few minutes later, though, a customer came in

Actually, he wasn't a customer, just the mail carrier. "Whew I I finally made it"

Little Mouser laughed. "Trouble in the Desert, Parakarry?"

"Yeah," the Paratroopa mailcarrier answered. "While en route to Dry Dry Outpost, a Bandit stole my mailbag and made off with it. Once I got it back, I realized I was lost in the desert, so I had to find the path again but accidentally back-tracked to Mount Rugged, and, and"

"It's all right," Little Mouser assured him, "Parakarry, you're spent! Why don't you rest here for a few minutes?" Parakarry just nodded, and Little Mouser told Mayuri to go and get some water and a bite to eat. Mayuri did so, and, seemingly as a gesture of thanks, Parakarry handed her a letter.

"From your pen pal on Yoshi's Island," he said. "I've had this for a week, just never got around to delivering it, heh"

"Oh! Thank you!" Mayuri took the letter, went into the corner, tore it open, and read it:

Dear Mayuri,

Hi! This is Yoshimi. How are you? OK, that sounded so stupid  
I really liked those pictures you sent me of Dry Dry Outpost. Wow! That place is so_ different looking than our island. I can hardly even imagine what a place where it hardly ever rains is like. It rains here either all day or everyday, it's too much  
Anyway, it looks like we might be able to visit you in the fall! We're going to go to Toad Town for some party, and my parents said it's OK for me to come to Dry Dry Outpost, as long as you're there at Mount Rugged to guide me to the town. I can't wait to meet you in person! And Little Mouser and all the other ones you've told me about!!  
Please write back soon!_

Your Yoshi friend, Yoshimi

This fall?! Mayuri thought. _Oh, wow! _"Little Mouser," she told her master, "This letter from Yoshimi says that she may be coming this fall!"

"This fall?" Little Mouser asked. "Because of the party in Toad Town?"

"Yeah"

Little Mouser chuckled. "We're going to that party too, Mayuri."

"Oh, we are? Oh, wow! I'll be sure to tell her that!" Mayuri went up to her room and began writing her response.

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"See, Mommy, and _this_ is where that mean old Lantern Ghost had me captive!" Watt frowned, remembering. "That Lantern Ghost was mean! Right, Shy Gurl?" 

Shy Gurl just nodded, to scared to speak. She had known that Watt's mother was coming to tour the Toy Box, and though she had kept telling herself to be brave, that was very hard for her

"And in this next room, this is where General Guy was training the Shy Squad! Does he still live here, Shy Gurl?" Watt asked.

Shy Gurl nodded. 

"Is he training right now?"

Shy Gurl shook her head. "But he's in there," she managed to say. 

"OK! Let's go say hi!"

Shy Gurl blinked. "But, Watt, miss, General Guy hates you"

"Say hi anyway!"

Watt's mother and Shy Gurl looked at each other. They just shrugged and followed Watt.

General Guy was reading some book when they came in. He quickly hid it. "What is it? Wha wha wha WATT?!?!?!?!?!" General Guy freaked out, diving under a nearby table. "You can't get me here, ha! TRY YOUR BEST, you Lil' Sparky!!"

"They just wanted to say hi, sir," Shy Gurl informed him.

".That so?" General Guy warily came from under the table. "Why me, must I ask?"

"I dunno, I just wanted my Mommy to see the Shy Guy who was holding one of the Star Spirits captive!" Watt answered. "See, Mommy? THIS is the General Guy I was talking about!"

"I see" Watt's mother trailed off.

General Guy was still confused, and a bit angry. "You came here to show your mother a person who was DEFEATED by that cheater, Mario?! SHY GURL!!!!! Why did you let them in?!"

Shy Gurl cowered in the corner. "Because, sir, sir I, um" she stopped, too frightened to continue, so Watt did for her.

"General Guy! She's not one of your soldiers anymore! And she's my friend! Don't talk to her like that!"

"Not my soldier, but I boss her around anyway," General Guy muttered. "Are you Watt's friend?!"

Shy Gurl nodded.

"And," Watt added, "I wanted my Mommy to see the Toy Box!"

"We'll you've seen it, so GET OUT!" General Guy roared. "Before I call the Shy Sqau I mean Oh, um I'll have to get back to you on that"

Shy Gurl led them out, and once they got to the trampoline thingy to get out of the Toy Box, Watt had an idea.

"Shy Gurl, you've been to Toad Town, right? But would you like to stay with us for awhile? Would that be OK, Mommy?"

"Well, I suppose" her mother answered.

"That would be OK, Watt, miss," Shy Gurl agreed.

"Really?!" Watt exclaimed. "Yay! I got a big Shy Gurl sister!"


	2. A Tale of Evil Stars... And Veggies!

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(I already had Chapter 2 written as well. In addition to the characters made up in the last chapter, Potatocide, Carroboscis, Cucumbersome, and Cloner. [As if you can't tell, General Guy and the Shy Guys, the Boos, and especially Pararera the Crystal King along with Cloner will play bigger roles later on! :P] In this one the adventure begins, and the good guys FINALLY find out about the evil vegetables!)

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The Ultimate Betrayar   
Chapter 2: A Tale of Evil Stars... And Veggies!

Meanwhile, at Star Haven, Betrayar and Deceptar were currently executing their plan to take the Star Rod. Betrayar was the one who took it; Deceptar guarded. "At last" Betrayar felt a real rush of power as he held the Star Rod in his hand, "It is _mine _I mean, _ours_"

"Whaddya you plan to do first?" Deceptar asked. 

"Call the Star Spirits, of course! And Twink." Betrayar held up the Star Rod. _I wish they would all be gathered here, _he thought, _Eldstar, Mamar, Skolar, Muskular, Misstar, Klevar, Kalmar, and Twink! Come here, now!!_

A beam of energy proceeded from the Star Rod, and that wish was granted. The Star Spirits and Twink were dragged from wherever they were to Betrayar and Deceptar's side.

"What's going on?!" Kalmar was panicking. "Are we under attack?!"

"No, you moron," Betrayar answered. "We're taking over this place!"

"Betrayar," Eldstar sounded firm, "You cannot do this! You have no idea what kind of power the"

"YES I DO!" Betrayer snapped, "I'm a very intelligent star, you know!! I am much smarter than all you bums!"

"BUMS?!!" Misstar exclaimed, "Why you?! Don't call _anyone_ that!"

"Shut up, sistah, or I'll steal that precious shawl o' yers," Deceptar threatened, and Misstar was quiet. "Better! We're kickin' you guys out, and heh heh, you have a nasty surprise waitin' for ya at the other end!" He turned to Betrayar "You told Wart, right?"

"I told you to," Betrayar answered.

"What?! Oh, um, oops"

"Well, I did a day ago. I doesn't matter, they're doomed anyway!" Betrayar held up the Star Rod, making his final wish in this scene: a wish he made out loud. "I wish that the Star Spirits and Twink will be banished from this place, _never_ to return!"

There was a bolt of lighting from the rod, which hit Eldstar. Then another one at Mamar, then Muskular, etc. until all were gone.

"That was easy," Betrayar chuckled once he was done. "Well, Deceptar, the Mushroom World has new rulers! Which I can rightfully say because anything we wish will come true!"

"Yep. But," Deceptar asked, "What'll we tell the other stars?"

"Does it matter?" Betrayar asked. "We rule! We can do anything we want!!"

"CANDY!!!!" Deceptar exclaimed. 

Betrayar rolled his eyes. "Don't you have any serious wishes?"

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"Boss! Boss! BOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!"

Wart was busy trying to cram a pumpkin into his "Vegginator", as he called it. "What? I'm a little busy now," he grumbled. He pushed too hard on the pumpkin and it shattered. "DARN!!! I'd really like a pumpkin for this!"

The one calling him, an evil intelligent cucumber named Cucumbersome, was frantic. "We have reason to believe that Betrayar sent the Star Spirits," he reported. 

Wart stopped cleaning up the pumpkin. "What?! Already?! Have they landed here yet?"

"No"

"Then you and Potatocide and Carroboscis should keep an eye out. Watch for _anything_ suspicious and investigate it, OK?"

"Yes, Boss. POTATODICE! CARROBOSCIS!! We have a job to do!"

Wart turned back to the pumpkin thing. "This thing needs a bigger opening. Then I can cram these stupid pumpkins in! To solve the problem" he took out a hammer and began smashing the opening. "Get bigger darn you get bigger no matter what it takes Looks a little bigger, let's see." He took the biggest pumpkin from the stack, and though it was clearly about three inches too big, tried to cram it in anyway. However, the opening for the Vegginator broke off completely, letting you fit anything as big as the machine in.

"Ooh That makes it dangerous but THE PUMPKIN FITS!" He stuck the pumpkin in and turned it on

The machine exploded! ^.^

Wart stood there soot-covered for several seconds. "I still have some work to do"

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"Ready, brother?"

"Ready!"

"I'm ready!!!!"

"SHUT UP, Kaphooey!!! I told you not to talk!"

"Well soh-ry."

Wario and Waluigi, along with Hen and Kaphooey, were rigging the seemingly empty Boo Mansion with traps. "Heh heh, they won't know what hit them," Wario gloated as he set up a can of paint above the doorway, "Now to get to the third floor and"

"Um That's a problem Look! THERE'S NO STAIRCASE TO THE THIRD FLOOR!!!!!!!"  


"SHHHH! They'll hear you!" Wario corrected his brother. "And, oh, no, you're right"

"Difficult, eh?" a mysterious disembodied voice asked. "I doubt you cretins could figure out how to get to my room!"

"Who? What? Where? How?" They all looked around, but saw no one. "Who who are you?"

"Lookit you," the voice, a female-sounding one, scoffed at them. "You guys are pathetic! What makes you think that we Boos would fall for such lame traps?! If anyone's a master of mischief, it's us!"

"TAKE THAT BACK!!!!!!" Wario shouted. "If you're so good then why don't you show yourself, eh?"

"Part of my mischief," the voice answered. Suddenly, without warning, something invisible hit Wario from behind. Not hard, but enough to scare out what sense he had!

"AAAAAAHHH WHAT THE?!" Wario panicked. "It's a ghost! AHHH! RUN!"

"Get back here," Waluigi grabbed him, "Show yourself! Are you a coward? Or 

maybe you're just so ugly you don't want anyone to see you?!"

A pause from the voice. "I am not ugly," it growled. "And fine! Look! Look at the front of the room. You'll see me!"

Just as the voice said that, a small, young, and strangely pretty female Boo carrying a purple fan appeared at the front of the room. She was green, not white or beige like the other Boos, and had a red and yellow bow on either side of her head. "This is me!" she said, "The one you are pathetically trying to exploit"

Wario and Waluigi certainly hadn't been expecting some young and actually rather attractive female Boo to be the one spooking them! "Oh, well, you see, the thing about that is" Waluigi started.

"Shut up," the Boo growled, "I command you to disable all those traps! I will not stand to have them in here!"

"Command?" Wario laughed. "Oh, yeah right, who are you? The owner of the mansion?!" He and Waluigi were almost hysterical!

The Boo hit both of them with her fan, which sobered them instantly. "As a matter of fact, I am," she told them. "So do it!"

"Who are you?" Wario asked again.

"Lady Bow, the Mistress of the Mansion', and whatever other names I get called"

"You look kind of young to"

"I know! I _am_ young! But this is _my_ mansion and you certainly _aren't_ welcome!!"

Waluigi suddenly remembered something. "Hey, you're not the one who is a friend of Mario's, are you?"

She blinked. "We all are"

"I mean, a good friend of Mario's. Good friend. Help him on an adventure kind of friend."

"I am" Bow faltered. "What is it to you?"

"Heh heh We're enemies of Mario!" Wario boasted. "We wanna try to get on people's nerves as much as possible!"

"That so?" Bow muttered, "You guys annoyed me all right Just finish up nulling those traps and _get out!!!!!!!!!"_

"If we don't?"

"I'll make sure you're sorry!" She held up her fan. "I can do worse than this!"

"OK, OK, we'll be good"

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Kooper led the group into the last big room. "Well, that's all," he said. "Pretty much Beyond this room is one tiny corridor, and after that, it leads back outside, to where we fought the Crystal King."

"Amazing," Kolorado was impressed, "I never even knew this place existed, but now I feel quite sorry for anyone who hasn't been here"

"And none of those shape-changing ghosts Kooper was talking about," Mrs. Kolorado added. "This place is the most beautiful I've ever seen!"

"Will you take us to where you fought the Crystal King, old boy?" Kolorado asked Kooper.

"Sure, if you want," Kooper answered. "Hopefully he doesn't hang around here anymore!!"

Kooper led them through one more corridor, and out a door, and to their great surprise, there was the Crystal King, scolding one of the Duplighosts!

"Don't _ever_ do that again," Pararera was saying, "I have told you ghosts time and time again to _never_ do your shape-changing act on me! Next time you do that, Cloner, I will kick you out, I mean it this time!"

"All right, all right, sheesh, I'll stop," the Duplighost, Cloner, promised. "But, if we can't copy you, who _can_ we copy?!"

"Anyone you find," Pararera answered. Pararera then proceeded to look toward the doorway, and was shocked to see Kolorado, his wife, the two assistants, and Kooper there! "What the?!" He narrowed his creepy green eyes. "Why are you here?!" he demanded. "How did you find your way all the way up here?!"

"I've been here before," Kooper coolly answered. "Great, so it looks like you and some of those shape-changing ghosts still live here, huh?"

"Yes," Pararera answered, "the Crystal Palace is _ours,_ and we don't take kindly to visitors! Cloner, lead them out of here!"

"I know the way," Kooper informed him.

Cloner had used his cloning ability to turn into Prof. Kolorado. "What's that, old boy? Icy boy? Hee hee hee"

"Grr SHUT UP!" Pararera hit Cloner with one of his Crystal Bits. Cloner then turned into the Crystal Bit. "Pararera! I mean Boss! Which one's your _real_ Crystal Bit, huh?!"

"Crystal Bits can't speak," Pararera dryly reminded him. 

Cloner paused. "Oh, yeah" He turned into his normal self. "Dang, that was fun!" 

"Remember, you're hanging on by a thread," Pararera growled. "Now lead them out of here before I put you _in_ ice!"

"I already said I know the way," Kooper reminded him.

"Then SCRAM!"

Kooper, Kolorado, Mrs. Kolorado, and the two assistants ran out as fast as they could. "Sorry about that," Kooper apologized, "He's just a big bully or something"

"That was the first time I'd seen a Duplighost, though!" Kolorado was excited. "I have heard so much about them, but actually seeing one shape-change was something I could not have even imagined!"

"It did a fair impression of you," his wife told him.

"A Duplighost did that to me, too," Kooper muttered, remembering. "Let's just hope we don't see them again!"

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"Any sign of anything, Cucumbersome?"

"No, no, not yet."

Carroboscis the carrot was studying some kind of tracking device he'd made. "Hmm, nothing on here, either," he said. "Cucumbersome, are you _sure _thatstar hick actually told you that the stars had been sent down here?"

"Yep, to this landing area, near Goomba Village!"

"Wha wha WHAT?!" Carroboscis exclaimed, "THE PLANNED AREA WAS NEAR THE KOOPA BROS. FORTRESS, YOU IDIOT!!!!"

Cucumbersome paused. "Oh, you're right"

"We'd better hurry, otherwise they'll get away," Potatocide the potato spoke up. "Hurry! We don't want to make Master Wart mad!"

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Of course, it was too late for the veggies. Actually, it was Betrayar who had made the biggest mistake. After he'd ousted out the Star Spirits and Twink, he realized something

"Oh, no!" he gasped, "I forgot to wish where they would land! Darn!! Well, I hope Wart finds them anyway"

Betrayar called Wart with the problem. "They're probably spread out over a rather wide area," he told him. "You've _got_ to find them before Mario finds out about this!!"

"I understand," Wart assured him. "Don't worry, my three best evil veggies are out looking for them right now. I'll just tell them to split up and take an army of evil turnips each. Or, better, yet, I would have liked pumpkins, but" he glared at the Vegginator, "the Vegginator doesn't seem too fond of pumpkins."

"Hmm, I'm sure you're wishing it would process pumpkins correctly," Betrayar guessed. "I'll grant that wish then! Wish it again, please, very strong."

"OK! I wish that the Vegginator would work on pumpkins! I wish the opening was big enough!" Wart turned back to the Vegginator, happy to see that the opening had miraculously gotten much bigger. "YES!! Thanks a million, Betrayar! It worked!"

"One other thing Does that only work on vegetables?" Betrayar asked.

"Yep."

Betrayar frowned. "Then I'll make this wish: that it will work on _anything_ at all! Turn anything evil! So, try it on something else, Wart."

"Um, OK" Wart looked around for something to throw in it, finally finding a loose brick in the corner. He took the brick, turned the machine on, and tossed it in. The brick came out a living, evil creature. The only thing missing was intelligence

"Ooh! Think I could use this on Mario and his friends if they come?" Wart asked.

"Of course. Just don't disappoint me. I won't stand for failure!"

"No problem, Master, there's no way we can fail!"

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There was something weird. Goombario couldn't quite tell what, but it was something weird

Goombaria felt it too. "I think something's about to happen!" she told her big brother. "What do you think?"

"I swear I saw some walking, talking veggie earlier today," he said. "It looked like a carrot."

"A carrot?" Goombaria eyed him. "Goombario? Are you OK??"

"Really, I saw a carrot! Come on, Goombaria, let's just take a quick look in the woods, shall we?" The two of them sneaked a little into the nearby woods, and found Three evil veggies!

"Way to go, Cucumbersome," the potato muttered, "Now we're hopelessly lost!"

"Can't be all bad," the cucumber, who appeared to be named Cucumbersome, protested. "Potatocide, I sure haven't heard _you_ come up with any better ideas on how to get to the Koopa Bros. fortress."

"Shut up, both of you!" a carrot with some kind of device scolded. "I think I'm getting it planned out. We're right next to Goomba Village, we just have to go from there, into Toad Town, and then down Pleasant Path and right to the fort!"

"Makes sense," the potato, Potatocide, started to say, when suddenly the carrot's cell phone rang.

He quickly answered it. "Hello, Carroboscis speaking. Master Wart? Really, whoah ANYWHERE?! Anywhere No, not yet Works on more than just veggies, eh? That's cool! Did you remember to wish that it would make intelligent ones again? YOU FORGOT?!?! Oh, that's just great OK, we will. I'll tell the others. See ya." He hung up. "Guys, new quest! Sort of."

"What?!"

"It seems Betrayar made a mistake. None of the Star Spirits landed here. They landed in various places around here. No one knows where."

"No one?" Cucumbersome growled. "This is cumbersome, all right"

"We just have to find them and dispose of them and the Star Kid before Mario finds out about this," Carroboscis continued. "You're all up to it, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Potatocide agreed, "Let's go find some stars!"

Once they left, Goombaria gasped. "Goombario!!! Did you hear that?!?!?!"

"Star Haven's been taken over and the Star Spirits and a Star Kid are somewhere around here!" Goombario bolted toward home. "Come on!! We have to tell _everyone! Especially Mario!!"_


	3. The Adventure Begins... More or Less...

New Page 1

(OK, this one is pretty much just a filler, heh heh... Anyway, the good guys finally find out and start to DO something. Betrayar and Deceptar aren't in this one, Wario and Waluigi have something planned (to be explained later) and Eldstar makes an appearance! Also, I included a little bit of Chapter 4, since it might be awhile until I'm done with that.

So... end of author's notes. ......Please read the story if you go beyond this.

Toad: I'll throw rocks at you if you don't! Hee hee hee!

Pokona: Argh, Toad, you're in this chapter. Get back in there, fungus head!

Toad: D'oh...)

(...Where did that come from?)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goombario told his family about what the veggies had talked about, and both his father and Goompa agreed to go with him to Toad Town. First, they'd go tell Mario and Luigi, then the other two would warn the princess.

Princess Peach heard them out. "That's what Goombario heard?" she asked. "This is quite dire indeed"

"Wart, Wart where have I heard that name before?" Mario was trying to think. "It's like something out of a bad dream"

"I think it was," Luigi told him, "Remember, Sub-Con? Veggie-hating Wart?"

"Oh, yeah, him," Mario finally remembered, "I've been on so many adventures they all kind of run together"

Luigi rolled his eyes. "At least _ONE_ of us has," he muttered.

"So do you think I should call some of our old friends together?" she asked. "Since this has to do with the Star Rod, maybe I should call on our friends who helped with

that last time, and maybe" she paused. "Do you think I should call Mallow and Geno? I mean, they helped us with the Star Road several years ago"

"Yeah, that's right," Mario agreed. "Call on them. But, ah How do you get through to Geno?"

Peach shrugged. "I dunno. TOAD! GET YOUR BIG MUSHROOM HEAD OVER HERE!"

Toad ran in, panting. "Geez, princess, you don't have to be so mean when you call me"

"Send a message to Mallow and, if possible, Geno. And, I'd also like you to send messages to" she thought a moment, "Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Lady Bow, Watt, Sushie, and Lakilester I got them all, didn't I?" Mario nodded, and she continued, "Tell them we need their help!"

Toad nodded. "Understood. I'll write those and tell Parakarry to deliver them!"

"OK, good. Well, get going, you piece of fungus!"

"Yes, your highness!" Toad ran off.

"Well" Mario faltered, "Now all we can do is wait"

----------------------------------------------

Parakarry managed to get the notes to everyone without major mishap this time, and they all gathered at Princess Peach's castle for instructions. 

"We need to search this place thoroughly and find the Star Spirits and the Star Kid before Wart does," Peach explained. "So, we're setting up territories. I just want each person to set up a search party in his/her own home territory. Two exceptions: Kooper, you take the Shiver Region and Parakarry, you have the Dry Dry Desert."

"Got it," the two of them answered.

"Is it OK if I try to get some Shy Guys help?" Watt asked.

"Um, sure" Peach answered, "Any help at all Just get out there and find those stars!"

--------------------------------------------------

Over at the Boo Mansion, Wario and Waluigi were trying once again to set things up. 

"Nailing things shut is so fun," Wario chuckled to Hen, "Let's see the Boos get through this time!"

Hen was paying no attention, simply pecking at the floor. "Bock bock bock"

Kaphooey had more sense. "Come on, you spindly stick," she chided Waluigi, "Hurry up! I could have that done already!"

"Shut up, shut up," Waluigi muttered, "Or we won't get done!"

"I thought that lady ghost told you two not to come back," Kaphooey pointed out. 

"Yeah, but when did we follow directions?!"

"Oh, I see your point"

Just then, the door to the mansion opened, and the dreaded lady ghost came in again. "OK, so right now, I want Stanley and Franky and" seeing the intruders, "OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!" She scowled. "I told you two to never come back!! GET OUT! NOW!! What in the world do you think you're doing?!"

"We're Wario and Waluigi," Wario answered, "We LIVE for trouble!"  


"That's right," Waluigi agreed. "Live with it, sister! We love pestering people! Nya ha ha!"

"Especially those of you low enough to build a mansion in a haunted forest and let it fall into such disrepair!" Kaphooey added.

Lady Bow sighed and shook her head. "Guys I want you other Boos to go ahead and begin patrolling Gusty Gulch without me. This might take awhile"

The Boos left, and Bow commenced trying to scold the intruders. "Why are you doing this?! Stop it, right now! This place is _very_ important to me; in fact, it's important to all us Boos! Stop trying to trash it! It's fine the way it is," she added, knowing that they would say it was already seemingly trashed anyway.

"Well, sorry," Wario muttered. "But trashing stuff is what we do!!"

"Yeah," Waluigi added, "We're slobs!"

Bow frowned. "Well, we're in a _dire_ situation now, so I would suggest you clean up your act or you might ruin things for _everyone!"_

Wario and Waluigi looked at each other. "How so?" they asked.

"You know of the Star Haven, right?" They nodded, so she continued. "Well, a couple of stars turned evil and took it upon themselves to rule it. He banished the Star Spirits with the intention on having a friend of his, Wart, dispose of them. However, it seems as though not all went quite as planned and the Star Spirits and a Star Kid are now loose somewhere on our planet. We have to find them before Wart does."

"Really? Then we'll go! We'll be good, we mean it!" Wario and Waluigi raced out.

"Hear that?!" Waluigi exclaimed, "If we find a Star Spirit, we'll be REALLY famous!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Wario agreed. "So we have to find one ourselves and stop these Boos"

Waluigi thought a minute. "Ooh! Ooh! I know one thing these Boos are afraid of, I heard of it before"

Wario got it right away. "Ooh! I know! I know! Let's try it!"

--------------------------------------------------

Over at Wart's fortress, Wart was planning things very carefully Really, he was!

"I want you each to take an army," he said, "Of fifty evil turnips, and behold THIRTY EVIL PUMPKINS!!!!! I DID IT!!!! I GOT IT TO WORK WITH PUMPKINS!!!"

Carroboscis, Cucumbersome, and Potatocide managed a three-way glance. _Clearly insane, _Carroboscis thought, _But, he has _some_ good ideas "_Is an army of eighty really going to cut it?"he asked.

"Well" Wart mused, "DARN! You're right! OK, I'll make a few more. Will one hundred and eighty each do?"

"Yep."

Wart took time out to make more evil veggies, then gave them each one hundred turnips and eighty pumpkins. "There! Is that better?"

"Yep," Carroboscis answered. "But where do you want us to go?"

"All over Mushlandia; I did get a message from that hick Deceptar saying that they all landed around there. And once you catch one, bring it here!"

"OK, got it."

"And of course, AMBUSH places! That'll make it harder for a Star to hide, or for a person to not tell you everything they know, heh heh"

"Ok, we understand."

------------------------------------------------

He had no idea where he was and he was alone

The last thing Eldstar remembered was that that evil star, Betrayar, had cast him, as well as the other Star Spirits and Twink, out of the Star Haven. He had mentioned there being a nasty surprise waiting at the other end, but, Eldstar didn't see anything particularily horrible

Actually, this place was rather nice. It seemed to be a forest, full of mushrooms, worms, and the like. Everything seemed carpeted in a nice, healthy green. _What is this place?_ Eldstar wondered. _Where are the other Star Spirits? Is there any kind of town nearby? Am I in the middle of nowhere?_

Eldstar began searching for some sort of path that might lead to a town, and finally found one, with a sign. "Rose Town, 3 miles."

Rose Town? Eldstar thought for a moment. _That sounds familiar_

He remembered about a little boy who had always been wishing that his doll would come to life, but, suddenly, those wishes had stopped. Had the boy outgrown the wish? Or had the guardians of the Star Road granted the wish?

The Star Spirits and the Star Guardians did almost the exact same thing: grant people's wishes, using either the Star Rod or the Star Road. They didn't formally view each other as rivals, but Eldstar knew, deep down, that they were always challenging each other to see who could grant more wishes. It was a good thing, actually, as it encouraged everyone to do their best.

Both places had been brutally attacked, too. In fact, a few years ago, the entire Star Road had been destroyed by this creep named Smithy!! Even so, Mario, with the help of four others, had managed to bring everything back together again. THEN King Bowser had stolen the Star Rod from Star Haven and kidnapped all the Star Spirits. Once again, Mario and eight others had made things right again.

Mario would make things right again this time too Wouldn't he?

------------------------------------------------------------

Still in Toad Town, Mario was actually very worried.

"No one knows where the Star Spirits are?" he asked Peach. "Or who the Star Kid is? Do _you_ know?"

"As I said five minutes ago, I don't know anything," Peach answered. "If we knew, why would we have set up search parties?"

"Oh, good point. Were we ever able to get a hold of Geno?"

"No, Parakarry said he couldn't deliver one that high. Some junk about being afraid of heights or something."

"But he's a Parakoopa"

"Exactly. I think he's just scared he'd get lost trying to find the Star Road or something."

"Oh."

Mario thought for a moment. "Well, Luigi's already out looking, why don't we go too?"

"OK," Peach agreed. "But where?"

"Toad Town, Shooting Star Summit, other places that no one's assigned to, etc"

"Ah, OK." They left for Shooting Star Summit. On the way, they ran into Toad and his girlfriend. 

"It's weird," Toad was saying, "I could have _sworn_ I saw a BIG shooting star near the summit, but when we checked on it"

"I know, it was gone," his girlfriend, Truffles, finished for him. "Like it was a living creature."

"Living creature?" Peach and Mario looked at each other. "TOAD!" Peach exclaimed, "You worthless piece of fungus, why didn't you check it sooner?! It might have been a Star Spirit, you idiot!!"

Toad thought for a moment. "Hey, you're right," he agreed. "Darn! I knew I shouldn't have stopped to throw rocks at Merluvee's house!"

"Throw rocks?" Mario asked, a little scared.

"Her darn little brother was out teasing me again," Toad told him. (NOTE: I can _never_ remember what Merluvee's brother's name is.)

"Ok"

"It doesn't matter," Peach concluded after a few minutes, "What matters is that a star might have landed around here and we have to find it, _now!!"_

-------------------------------------------------------------

Now, let's switch views. _Way_ out the heck. Mayuri was out running an errand for Little Mouser. They were expecting a parcel to arrive from the train, and Mayuri went to Mt. Rugged to go pick it up. On her way back to Dry Dry Outpost, though, she ran into a Bandit, who stole it!

"GET BACK HERE!!!" Mayuri shouted. "I need that package!!"

The Bandit stuck out its tongue at her, which just made her even angrier. She picked up a rock. "If you don't give that back to me," she threatened, "I'll throw this at you!"

The Bandit stared for a moment, then took off. _Great,_ Mayuri thought, _Now I know how Parakarry feels!_

Mayuri chased the Bandit all the way to the Dry Dry Ruins, hesitating when the Bandit ran in the ruins. _I'm not allowed to go in there,_ she thought, _Moustafa and Little Mouser have warned me not to. But, the package I have to get it! _Have _to!_

Mayuri ran in after the Bandit, finally cornering it against a wall. "Aha! You're trapped!" Mayuri picked up another loose rock. "Give that back to me right now, or I'll throw this!"

The Bandit seemed to think about it, and finally decided to put the package down. It then hurried away, probably looking for its next target.

"That's better!" Mayuri picked up the package and tried to re-trace her steps back out of the ruins. However, she quickly got lost. "Argh," she muttered, "I HATE that Bandit"

Before long, she came to a rather large room with a staircase underneath it. In the room were five chomp statues, three of them decorated with a triangular, crescent, or diamond-shaped stones. _Strange,_ Mayuri thought, _What's this? Was this some thing that Tutankoopa set up when he was here?_

Mayuri followed the stairs down, into another room. This room had a ledge in one corner, and just below that, a gate that appeared to at one time a have held some sort of creature. On one wall in the room was a plaque: 

Dedicated to the great and brave Mario, and his friends Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, and Parakarry, who very unselfishly and fearlessly challenged the "King" Tutankoopa in this very room, fighting both him and his chomps in order to rescue the Star Spirit Mamar. Their feat will always be remembered by all the residents of Dry Dry Outpost and also by many others throughout the Mushroom World.

Provided by Moustafa in behalf of all the citizens of Dry Dry Outpost

Mayuri looked around the room for several minutes more. _Wow,_ she thought, _I wonder what the battle was like?! I'd love to be an adventuerer someday, and see a plaque with my name on it But more than anything, I want to help people!_ Mayuri peeked into the room where the chomps had been, sticking her head through the bars. _Can you go in here?_ she wondered.

"Hey, you! Mayuri! What are you doing in here?!"

Mayuri took her head out of the bars so fast she bumped her head on them. "Puh-Parakarry!" she gasped when she saw him, "Wha-what are you doing here?!"

"Me?" the mail-carrying Parakoopa answered, "What are _you_ doing here?! Dry Dry Ruins is strictly off limits to any who don't have a guide!"

Mayuri told him about the Bandit. "I got lost in here," she concluded, "I was just trying to find my way out!"

Parakarry frowned. "It's dangerous," he said, "but I'm glad to see you're OK"

"How did you know I was in the ruins, anyway?" she asked.

Parakarry smiled. "I saw you go in," he said. "You see I was _also _chasing a Bandit who stole a package"

Mayuri chuckled. "So we're even then. One thing" she motioned to the grate over where the chomps had been, "What's in there?"

"In there? Well, I don't know"

"You've been here before! You fought Tutankoopa, you know!"

"I know, but I've never been into the Chompy Chambers', as Tutankoopa called it." 

"Oh, darn, I just wonder if there might still be a chomp in there or something."

"It would have either attacked you the moment you stuck your head in the bars, or, more likely, would have died of starvation long ago."

"True" Mayuri trailed off.

"Now, let's get out of these ruins, shall we?" Parakarry suggested.

"Under one condition! Tell me the sort of how you guys defeated Tutankoopa!!" Mayuri demanded.

Parakarry rolled his eyes. "Mayuri, I've told you that one a _billion _times Why not one about outsmarting another one of Bowser's underlings, eh?"

Mayuri thought a moment. "OK, tell me about your adventure in the Forever Forest and Boo Mansion and how you exploited Tubba Blubba's weakness!"

"Ah, that one. Well, it started when we were invited to the Boo Mansion by a Boo named Bootler Actually, he pretty much delivered a come-or-else' threat from Lady Bow. We spent hours in the forest, and all almost suffered a nervous breakdown, but finally managed to find" Parakarry rattled on as the two of them found their way out of the ruins and back into town.

Once they were back to Dry Dry Outpost, Moustafa had a message waiting for Parakarry. "It's very urgent," he said, "There were reports from some people about a shooting star landing on the desert, near the oasis. You're needed to check it out."

"Me?" Parakarry was a little shocked. "I still have work to do, but, OK"

"I want to go with you!" Mayuri exclaimed. "I want to be an adventurer, too, and this would be a good start. Right, Little Mouser?"

Little Mouser and Parakarry looked at each other. "Do you mind?" the mouse asked Parakarry.

"Well, no, not really"

"Then you may go, Mayuri."

"YES! Thank you, Little Mouser!" 

Parakarry and Mayuri left the shop and Dry Dry Outpost, little knowing they would not be back for a LONG time In fact, one of them would _never_ come back

-------------------------------------------------------------

(Preview to Chapter 4 (a.k.a. "All I Have Written So Far")  
Chapter 4 tentative title: NEVER Mess With a Duplighost Army

"Ugh, this presents a problem"

Potatocide had led his group to a very cold place. _Very _cold. Nothing but snow and ice for miles to see. There were a few towns, but they had decided not to stop there; they were going for bigger treasure!

Like the Crystal Palace

However, they ran into one little obsical: a HUGE pile of rocks sitting on the road to the palace. There were high cliffs all around, giving them three choices: to climb over the rocks; move the rocks; or, the most likely one, to turn back.

Potatocide wouldn't go for plan 3, wasn't sure about plan 2, and didn't even think of plan 1. "Veggies can't move rocks," he mused, "Unless they are super-powered ultra veggies but who am I kidding. They're not." 

Potatocide thought it over some more. "Hmm, this one is truly a toughie"

"We can try to climb it," a pumpkin suggested.

"Climb it?" Potatocide thought about that. "OH! DUH! OK, I'm glad I thought of that. Come on, my army, let's go!"

----------------------------------------------------------

Cloner was the first one to notice something suspicious. _What? What's this? Turnips? Pumpkins? A potato?_ He stared at the intruders. _This is like something out of a weird horror movie Better go warn the boss!_ Cloner raced to Pararera's "throne", practically throwing himself at the icy king.

"PARARERA!!! I THINK WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! BY A TEAM OF EVIL VEGGIES!!" he exclaimed. "I saw them coming, and they didn't look like nice veggies, the kind you find in the grocery store. These looked like killer plants!"

Pararera just stared. _He's insane. Very very VERY insane. _"Cloner why don't you go and turn into one of these veggies and show me what it looks like, OK?"

Cloner did so, turning into the potato. "See Boss? I'm an evil potato, come to take over the Crystal Palace! Grrrowwwlll!" 

"Potatoes don't growl," Pararera reminded him. "Not half bad, Cloner; you just need to work on your sound effects."

"But, but," Cloner protested, "Argh!" turning back into his normal self, "They might attack!"

"_Sure,_ Cloner Why don't you keep watch? And tell me if you see any evil evergreen trees as well." He snickered the last bit.

"But, but OK! I will then! I'll lead the Duplighosts in an army and get rid of those intruders!"

"Sure, why don't you"

Pararera watched Cloner leave, deep in thought. _He's dead serious this time. Maybe we do have evil intruders? But, veggies? I think someone has a screw loose there, and it certainly isn't me!_

_--------------------------------------_


	4. Unwanted Icy Surprises

New Page 1

(I finished Chapter 4 up sooner than I thought... It seemed short, but on Microsoft Word it said that Chapter 4 alone was 7 pages long (the whole story is 32!) so I figured that was long enough. Don't want the chapters TOO long.

Anyway, in here, the Crystal Palace is overtaken, Deceptar uses his shape-changing ability, and in the end, Wario and Waluigi set off... and I did not keep the same chapter name. :P Oh, well...

So... how am I doing with the "new adventure" type thing? It's a whole lot harder than I thought!! I just want to write and write and write some more... I have one Mario story on my computer that's over 200 pages long; I hope this one doesn't get **_that_** long. Hee hee... *innocent look*)

----------------------------------------  
The Ultimate Betrayar  
Chapter 4: Unpleasant Icy Surprises...

"Ugh, this presents a problem"

Potatocide had led his group to a very cold place. _Very _cold. Nothing but snow and ice for miles to see. There were a few towns, but they had decided not to stop there; they were going for bigger treasure!

Like the Crystal Palace

However, they ran into one little obstacle: a HUGE pile of rocks sitting on the road to the palace. There were high cliffs all around, giving them three choices: to climb over the rocks; move the rocks; or, the most likely one, to turn back.

Potatocide wouldn't go for plan 3, wasn't sure about plan 2, and didn't even think of plan 1. "Veggies can't move rocks," he mused, "Unless they are super-powered ultra veggies but who am I kidding. They're not." 

Potatocide thought it over some more. "Hmm, this one is truly a toughie"

"We can try to climb it," a pumpkin suggested.

"Climb it?" Potatocide thought about that. "OH! DUH! OK, I'm glad I thought of that. Come on, my army, let's go!"

---------------------------------------------------

Cloner was the first one to notice something suspicious. _What? What's this? Turnips? Pumpkins? A potato?_ He stared at the intruders. _This is like something out of a weird horror movie Better go warn the boss!_ Cloner raced to Pararera's "throne", practically throwing himself at the icy king.

"PARARERA!!! I THINK WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! BY A TEAM OF EVIL VEGGIES!!" he exclaimed. "I saw them coming, and they didn't look like nice veggies, the kind you find in the grocery store. These looked like killer plants!"

Pararera just stared. _He's insane. QUITE insane. _"Cloner why don't you go and turn into one of these veggies and show me what it looks like, OK?"

Cloner did so, turning into the potato. "See Boss? I'm an evil potato, come to take over the Crystal Palace! Grrrowwwlll!" 

"Potatoes don't growl," Pararera reminded him. "Not half bad, Cloner; you just need to work on your sound effects."

"But, but," Cloner protested, "Argh!" turning back into his normal self, "They might attack!"

"_Sure,_ Cloner Why don't you keep watch? And tell me if you see any evil evergreen trees as well." He snickered the last bit.

"But, but OK! I will then! I'll lead the Duplighosts in an army and get rid of those intruders!"

"Sure, why don't you"

Pararera watched Cloner leave, deep in thought. _He's dead serious this time. Maybe we do have evil intruders? But, veggies? I think someone has a screw loose there, and it certainly isn't me!_

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Cloner paced the front room. "Fellow Duplighosts! We have a job to do. Pararera the Crystal King has put me, Cloner, in charge of keeping evil veggies out of the Crystal Palace. So, that's what we will do!"

"How?" a Duplighost asked. 

"Um, well" Cloner stuttered, "Well, um, I don't know yet, but I'll think of something"

"Why not try duplicating them and scaring the heck out of them?" another Duplighost suggested. "That would be FUN!!!"

"I was thinking along those lines too," Cloner agreed. "It works with others, so let's do it!"

Cheers rose from the group of Duplighosts. "We'll have more fun than when Mario came!" some exclaimed, while others yelled, "DOWN WITH VEGGIES!!! LET'S TEACH THEM A LESSON!!"

Cloner led the group outside, on the side opposite of the main entrance. _All clear,_ he thought, then, _Darn!! They're not here yet!_

"Maybe it would be better to split up and wait inside," Cloner mused. "Everyone! Back inside! We need the element of total surprise!"

"Total surprise?"

"You know, the creep-up-on-someone-and-scare-the-daylights-out-of-them kind of surprise."

"Oh, that. Yeah, let's go!"

--------------------------------------------------------------

In Star Haven, Deceptar and Betrayar knew very well what was going on. "Wart's not the smartest of the bunch, is he?" Betrayar muttered. "I think we will have to take some drastic steps here."

"Drastic?" Deceptar asked. "What'cha mean, drastic'?"

"I mean DRASTIC! Extreme, extravagant, radical, exorbitant, and and, well, you get the idea."

"More r less, yeah Jest what were ya plannin' to do?"

"Deceptar you still have the ability to shape change, right?"

"Better n' a Duplighost, yeah! You gave it to me, 'member?"

Betrayar grinned devilishly, formulating a plan. "Than a Duplighost? I have an idea, indeed I do a plan so fiendish and evil, even King Bowser could not have thought of it. So evil, I would have to be the most evil creature in the galaxy to think it up. So evil"

"I get the durn point, jest TELL ME WHAT IT IS!!!"

"Oh, of course. My plan is" he whispered something to Deceptar. "Think you can do it? Kick them all out?"

"All o' em?"

"Yes! Can you do it?"

"O' course! Happy to, teach em heroes' a lesson or two, heh heh hyuck"

"Then get going!"

"Right away!"

---------------------------------------------------------------

At the Crystal Palace, Potatocide had finally wormed his way in. 

"This place is more empty than Wart's brain," he muttered. "Come on, guys, nothing here."

"Nothing? Ooh, I don't know about that"

Potatocide turned around to see HIM!!!! "YAAAAAAAAARGGHHHHHHH!!!!! WHAT THE?!?!?!?!?!"

The fake Potatocide began ordering the other veggies out. "Move out, on the double! No paying attention to this _nisemono!" _(NOTE: "Nisemono" is the Japanese word for "fake". I just like it better. :P)__

"Nisemono?!?!?!?!?! GRRRRRRR!__" Potatocide roared. "Why you!!! I oughtta"

The fake one gasped. "Oh my goodness! You just growled!!! And Pararera told me potatoes _don't_ growl Well, he was wrong!!! They _do _growl!"

"Only when we are really, really, really, and I mean, SERIOUSLY, hacked off," the real Potatocide answered. "Show your real self, coward!"

"Real self, I'm Oh, shoot, I did give myself away, didn't I?" Cloner grumbled as he turned into his normal self. "This means DUPLIGHOSTS!!!! ATTAAAAACK!"

From seemingly nowhere, about thirty or forty other Duplighosts suddenly appeared, turning into Potatocide, turnips, pumpkins, or whatever else they pleased. 

Potatocide was utterly confused. "Wha what?! What's going on here?!"

"Have no fear, ya big lug! Ya see, I'm here ta help!" A black star had just entered the palace, unseen by anyone else, as everyone was much too busy messing with the Duplighosts.

Cloner wasn't impressed. "Yeah, you look like you have the intelligence of a potato, hee hee"

"Silence!" Deceptar hissed. "You got no idea who yer messin' with, do ya, Cloner?"

Cloner stared, shocked. "Wha WHAT?! How did you know my NAME?!?!?!?!?"

Deceptar grinned. "I know a lot o' things," he answered. "Like that you oughtta call yer boss and tell im to come ere or he's gonna have a big price to pay."

Cloner turned white as a sheet if there's anything under that sheet, there is. "Um, OK PARARERA!!!! HEEEEEELLLLLLLP!" He ran off, bumping into the (real) Crystal King on the way.

"I heard all the noise," he grumbled. "Did you Duplighosts manage to make a fool out of yourselves once again?"

"Ah, you mus' be the Crystal King," Deceptar said. "Yer the one I need ta talk to."

"What about?" Pararera asked, suspicious of Deceptar's intentions.

"GET OUTTA HERE!!! THIS PLACE BELONGS TA THE VEGGIES!!!"

"Make us," Pararera growled. 

"Gladly." Deceptar turned into Pararera. "See this? I c'n act jest like you, yep! AND I'M A LOT STRONGER!"

The real Pararera held his ground. "Oh, really? You don't sound anything like me at all!"

Deceptar thought about that a moment. "OH, DARN!!! Yer right. I don't. I'm stuck with this funny accent, but Don't matter. I'll rule someday, you'll see!!"

Pararera snickered. "Yeah, right."

"See! My power!" Deceptar, who still looked like Pararera, suddenly flailed his arms, and out came a beam of energy that flung the real Pararera into the nearest wall, so hard he cracked his crown! "See? I'm a star, and my pardner's got the Star Rod. I can do ANYTHIN'!!!!"

Pararera managed to get back up, summoning his Crystal Bits in the process. Without a word, he flung all three of them at Deceptar. Deceptar simply caught and crushed all three.

"See, you cain't beat me," he boasted. "No one can! I'm INVINCIBLE!!!"

Pararera scowled (if he had a mouth, that is.) _He's not kidding,_ he thought, _this guy's tough. I can't beat him. But, I must do _something! _I'm the Crystal King! I _must_ protect the palace!_

"I hear your thoughts," Deceptar sniggered, "And I can get rid o' ya with a single energy beam. Then _I'll_ be the new Crystal King!"

Pararera shook his head. "No. You cannot take the palace!" He summoned more Crystal Bits this time, but didn't fire them. Instead, he had them pick him up and above Deceptar's head to try to attack him that way. 

Deceptar let out another energy beam, and Pararera came crashing down. "Give it up," he hissed, "I aine Mario or somethin'."

"Pararera _lost_ to Mario," Cloner pointed out.

"I know, but I could beat Mario wit' my hands tied hind my back!" Deceptar pinned the real Pararera to the ground. "Now GET OUT!!!! Fore I do somethin' _really_ bad!"

"What worse could you have done?" Pararera gasped, unable to fight. "Taking my palace is a top offense!"

"Yer palace?" Deceptar laughed. "Yeah, sure, this palace belongs ta us stars. And I'm takin' it back! You aine gonna get it, ya hear? OUT!!!"

Deceptar literally threw Pararera out, and the Duplighosts followed, since Pararera was their boss. "Pararera!" Cloner knelt down by him, "Are you OK?!"

Pararera was gasping for air. "What does it look like, idiot?!"

"We _have_ to get the Crystal Palace back!" a Duplighost mourned. "Boss! What can we do?!"

"Not sure," Pararera answered, "But don't worry; I'll think of something Sooner or later"

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Meanwhile, in Gusty Gulch Wario and Waluigi found out they couldn't execute plan A, so they had to move on to plan B if they had one, that is.

"How was I supposed to know that they don't sell costumes of Tubba Blubba?" Wario muttered.

"He's so scary I guess they didn't want to bother," Waluigi answered. "Oh, well. What _is _plan B, by the way?"

"I dunno. I thought you had it."

"No"

"Darn. So we have to think of something!" Wario picked up Hen and shook her gently. "Come on, Hen!! We have to think of a plan!! Do you have a plan?!"

Hen just stared. "Bock bock"

"You have to speak a little clearer than that! Hen!"

"Bock!"

"How about you, Kaphooey?" Waluigi asked the Breegull.

"I'm smarter than both of you put together," Kaphooey answered. "So why not just look around here and find a Star Spirit before those ghosts do?"

Wario and Waluigi exchanged glances. "Think we could do it?"

"It's worth a try!"


	5. Terror in the Toy Box

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(Whew... this was so _incredibly hard_ to write... I had no idea as to where to start, but I managed to pull it off! ^.^ Anyway, same disclaimers as the other chapters, and yada yada...

Bleh, just read it, please! :P

BTW, in this chapter, three new characters of my own creation appear: Dupliana, Supply Guy, and Musty. They are not owned by Nintendo in any way.)

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The Ultimate Betrayar  
Chapter 5: Terror in the Toy Box

In the Crystal Palace, Deceptar was helping Potatocide set things up so that the Crystal King and Duplighosts couldn't get back in it. Pararera well knew what they were doing, but had no idea about what he should do.

A female Duplighost, Dupliana (assuming that Duplighosts _have_ genders, anyway) made the first suggestion that actually made sense, as she was a very smart and comprehensive ghost. "Boss," she told Pararera, "Perhaps you should try contacting some of your friends about this"

"Yes," Pararera agreed, "I guess so. But who? Can you think of anyone who has never lost to Mario?"

A full 10-minute silence by the Duplighosts. 

"So no one can think of _anyone,_ can you?"

Still silence. Finally one piped up: "Uh, the guys who have joined Mario's team"

"NO! Not them, you moron," the Crystal King growled. "Is there really no one on this planet who has been able to truly defeat that overweight plumber?!"

More silence.

"Guess not Let's just go in the general direction of Toad Town, then. We're sure to find something Probably trouble" He sighed. "What we _need_ is the Star Rod!"

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Deceptar and Potatocide along with their evil veggie army had sealed off every entrance but one in the Crystal Palace, so that they could go in and out without anyone else noticing

Deceptar was currently trying to make sure that Potatocide knew where the exit was. "Now," he said, "say that er maybe Mario an' his friends r' comin' to boot'cha out o' here. Whatcha gonna do? How're you gonna get outta ere to teach em a lesson r two?"

It took a moment for that to sink in. "Well," Potatocide calmly answered, "We would run around and scream like crazy, attacking at random, since I forgot where the entrance is! Is that good enough?"

Deceptar shook his head. "For the millionth time, you dumb ol' potato, NO! Look, the entrance is _right here,_" pointing to it, as it was in front of them, "So, whatcha gonna do?"

Potatocide thought a moment. "Um line please?"

"ARGH! Maybe I jest outta let you fare for yerself; I ain't gettin' nowhere with this!" Deceptar, who had been disguised as Pararera this whole time, turned into his normal self again. "I still got places to go an' take over, fore Mario does!"

"Like what?"

"Secret places, but I'm fraid I cain't tell you or anyone else, heh"

"Ooh What kind of secret places??"

"They're secret cause I cain't tell you what they are," Deceptar grumbled. "Otherwise we'd all have veggie soup to eat fer dinner!"

"Veggie soup?! I love veggie soup!"

" OK, I'll make myself a little more clear ere, we'd have potato soup."

"That's good, too!"

"Potato soup made from _you."_

"Made from," thinking a moment, "OH! THAT'S _NOT_ GOOD!"

"Finally; yer as thick-headed as them taters come," the evil star muttered. "Well, get goin', Potatocide; we still got work to do!"

"I have work?"

"SEARCHIN' FOR STAR SPIRITS, YOU BIG DIMWIT!!"

"Oh, yeah"

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Deceptar left to his next location, and after about a full hour, Potatocide managed to find the exit. He drew a detailed map. "There," he said, "I'll never get lost in that confusing palace again!"

"What if someone finds the map?" a pumpkin asked.

"Don't worry, I won't let _that_ happen!" Potatocide stowed it away. "So any reports of a Star Spirit being near here?"

"No one knows where they are," a turnip answered, "So, no!"

"Shoot! So we gotta look on this cold, cold mountain? Well, get searching, we have a _long_ way to go!"

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Meanwhile in Shy Guy's Toy Box

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT OUR ENTIRE MONTH'S RATIONS WERE CONSUMED?!?!?!" General Guy roared at Supply Guy. "Who did this?! Is this some sort of joke, troop?"

"No, sir," Supply Guy trembled, "Gourmet Guy was hungry and asked for a snack. We told him to help himself, and he took that too seriously"

General Guy frowned. "He ate the whole _month's_ rations? Goodness sakes Well, that means you must go out and buy more and DON'T LET GOURMET GUY _NEAR_ THEM,understood?!"

"Yes, sir!" Supply Guy hustled off, leaving the general alone. _Good riddance, _he thought, _Gourmet Guy already eats an entire week's ration for one soldier per meal. How does he manage without having a heart attack or stroke?? He doesn't even have high cholesterol!_

Just as Supply Guy left, another Shy Guy, a Spy Guy, ran in. "General Guy," he panted, "Bad news"

"Now what? Gourmet Guy didn't raid all the food places in town, did he?"

"Worse, sir! We have some kind of unknown intruder in the Toy Box!"

"UNKNOWN INTRUDER?! Where's the Shy Squad?!"

"No idea, sir. Everyone's been running around screaming."

"Figures well, call the Shy Squad and tell them to report here ASAP! We need to kick this intruder out!"

"Yes, sir!" The Spy Guy saluted and rushed out, coming 15 minutes later with about 8 of the members of the Shy Squad. They were trembling in fear.

"SPY GUY!" General Guy roared, "Where's the others?!"

"I couldn't find them, General Guy. It seems they have escaped out of the Toy Box in hopes of finding refuge"

The general cursed under his breath. "Well, that happens Remaining troops, get out your weapons! We have a fight to win!"

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At first Deceptar thought he wouldn't have to do much work here; it was already seemingly empty. _I see why they're called "Shy Guys", _he thought to himself. _Where in dis little weird happy-land is their leader??_

That was quickly answered. Deceptar soon caught sight of a Spy Guy and shape-changed into it. Following the Spy Guy, he stumbled upon General Guy's headquarters, where the general was currently preparing his troops for the imminent battle.

"I will only need one assistant in the tank," General Guy was saying, "and you know the routine. Spy Guys, stick by me. Pyro Guys, you go first, since few want to mess with a flaming Shy Guy anyway. Medi Guys, you will be stationed all around to watch out for any who may be injured. Understood, troops?!"

An affirmative by many, screams of terror by the rest.

Deceptar thought this was a great time to attack. "General, sah," he said. "The intruder, he's here already!"

General Guy looked confused. "Are you sure, troop?? We're the only ones in here right now"

"'Zat so? Heh heh, are ya sure?" Deceptar shape-changed again, this time into General Guy. "I'M the intruder, ya nincompoop!"

Most of the Shy Guys screamed, and General Guy quickly dove into his tank, shouting: "PYRO GUYS!! ATTAAAAACK!" as he did so.

With a wave of his hands, Deceptar froze them all into solid blocks of ice. "My pardner has the Star Rod," he boasted. "So give it up now, ya cowards! I c'n pull off _any_ kind o' move!!"

Inside the tank, General Guy prepared for his best attack. "We've upgraded the lightbulb," he told his assistant, "So let's try it out! I'll bet not even _Watt_ could stand up against it this time!"

"Yes, sir." The other Shy Guy turned on the lightbulb's power. "Ready when you are, sir. It says it takes 3 minutes to charge."

"3 minutes?!" General Guy frowned. "I'm not certain if my troops can last that long Hurry! We've got to help them as much as we can!"

Deceptar was actually finding the other Shy Guys a little harder to overpower than he thought. This was simply because after the quick defeat of the Pyro Guys, the others had freaked out and were running every which way, making aiming nearly impossible. Deceptar decided that freezing them was probably the best thing to do. So by throwing ice beams at random, he only managed to get about half of the Shy Guys assembled there before General Guy was ready.

"Perfect troops," he muttered, "You're a disgrace to the army but at least your unplanned tactic is working Now! FIRE!"

The lightbulb drew in a large amount of power, plunging the room into pitch-black darkness for a moment. It then shot a beam of power at Deceptar, who deflected it. It came right back at General Guy's tank, causing a HUGE explosion

General Guy just sat there in the charred rubble, stunned, while his assistant joined the mass of screaming Shys. Deceptar laughed at the scene. 

"You look so stupid, yet you call yerself a general?" he mocked. "Get outta here! We aine got no evil veggies or anythin' to mark this place as belonging ta us evil stars, but guess what?! It don't matter. Get outta ere, an' I promise not ta let any more of yer "Shy Squad" get such an icy fate!"

General Guy crawled from the remains of the tank, injured, but not severely. "We won't give up," he said. "This Toy Box belongs to us! We'll fight to the bitter end to keep it!"

Deceptar scowled. "What?! Then why are yer troops runnin' outta here as fast as they can, eh?!"

"Well, I'm certain that not _all_ of them" realizing he's alone, "OH! Shy Squad! GET BACK HERE!" General Guy ran out, chasing his troops, not meeting up with them until they were out of the Toy Box. On trying to go back in, they realized that Deceptar had locked them out. "This is a fine turn of affairs," he muttered. "Even _I_ don't know what to do"

"Running around in terror wouldn't help, would it, sir?" a Shy Guy tentatively asked.

General Guy rolled his eyes. "Well, _duh"_

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Now, let's take a look at the ones whose scenario has ended chapters 4 & 5!

Deep in the Forever Forest, Wario and Waluigi had made the extremely bad mistake of looking for a Star Spirit without as much as a map to guide them. Naturally, they were swiftly lost in this haunted forest.

"We've been travelling for hours," Wario whined, "And we haven't seen anything yet! No Star Spirit, no Boo Mansion"

"We're lost, you idiot," Waluigi growled. 

Wario then accidentally tripped over a tree root, falling into a flowered bush. Not so bad, until the flowers began laughing hysterically

"AAAAAAAAAH!!! THAT PLANT IS HAUNTED!!!" Wario yelped as he jumped out of the bush and into a tree. The tree's branches wrapped around him, letting out a sinister laugh. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! THE TREE TOO!!!"

Kaphooey and Waluigi helped him out of the tree. "Way to go, fatso," Kaphooey muttered, "Only you can find trees that grab you!"

"I knew this forest was haunted," Waluigi muttered, "but I had no idea that the ghosts in here are almost as mean as that lady ghost!"

"She's worse," Wario muttered. "These ghosts don't hit you with folding fans."

"Touché"

They soon came upon a shack built next to a HUGE tree. Assuming the shack wasn't haunted (a dumb thing to do in the Forever Forest), Wario and Waluigi, along with Hen and Kaphooey, swiftly went in, hoping they could find some sort of map.

There was a map inside, but also A BOO!

This Boo, however, was not a normal Boo: he wasn't beige or white like the others, nor was he green or gray, like Lady Bow and Bootler. He was some kind of off-blue, a grayish-blue Boo. He didn't look that old, either, and was just as surprised to see them!

"What do you want?!" he demanded, then softened at seeing how scared they were. "Let me guess. You guys got lost in the forest and stumbled upon my humble shack, right?"

"Yeah" Waluigi was almost too out of his wits to answer. "Who who are you?"

"The name's Musty. I used to live at the Boo Mansion like everyone else, but I couldn't stand Lady Bow's total _rejection _of another noble Boo of her age, so I moved here."

"Noble Boo?" Wario asked. "What, are you a Boo prince or something?"

"Me? No, just a rich Boo Heh, Bow and I used to be the best of friends, and we both lived in haunted castles in Dinosaur Land. I was in Vanilla Dome, and she was at the Forest of Illusion. But Bow moved out here later on, and I went too. But she always ignored me, so I got fed up and moved out here. She's never sent anyone out looking for me, as far as I know, but just as well. I really like it here, without another soul around"

"Do you know how to get to Gusty Gulch?" Waluigi asked. "We live there, but we're kinda, uh, lost"

Musty was surprised. "Gusty Gulch?? Do you live in the town?"

"Nope, the castle."

"The _castle?!_ But I thought Tubba Blubba lived"

"Who?"

"Tubba Blubba. This huge coward who lived there. I guess he finally got some sense into him and moved out, eh?" Musty looked thoughtful. "I've always wanted to go there again His castle was awesome!"

Wario and Waluigi looked at each other, getting an idea. "Want to go with us?" Wario asked. "We need someone to guide us, anyway, since we're so stupid, we'd probably forget the directions home even if you told us!"

"Sure," Musty answered. "Glad to help out!"

So Wario and Waluigi, along with their birds and the ghost they just Boo-friended (sorry!) continue on to Gusty Gulch, finding no Star Spirits or other Boos in the process.

What other adventures are in store for them? What other adventures are in store for _everyone? _When will the good guys finally a Star Spirit? Those questions to be answered in Chapter 6! (Probably)


	6. The Battle for Dry Dry Outpost

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(OK, so...finally getting somewhere with this! And, for once, Wario and Waluigi aren't in it! (I'm obsessed with Shy Guys, Boos, and Duplighosts, BTW.) Anyway, this is one of the longest chapters; 11 pages according to Microsoft Word!

In this chapter, Dry Dry Outpost has been taken over, so the good guys have to fight a bit of a battle to get it back. Definitely rated PG for fighting and blowing things up...

Oh, and the disclaimer is the same as on the other chapters, but I'd like to add one thing: Fauna the Parakoopa, while not an official character by Nintendo, is not of my own creation, either. I'm using her with the permission of my friend Melissa Mario Sister. Thanks, Melissa!!

XD!!! Only I could possibly mess up the chaptering system... I tried to replace Chapter 6 with this one, with the new author's notes, but somehow, when I was done, chapters 5&6 were gone, chapters 1-3 were all listed as chapter 1, etc. O.o What happened???)

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The Ultimate Betrayar  
Chapter 6: The Battle for Dry Dry Outpost

Word of General Guy's defeat by a mysterious shape-changing creature quickly spread around Toad Town, much to the general's embarrassment. But it certainly wasn't every day that you had a normally peaceful town of Mushroom People overrun by terrified Shy Guys!

When Princess Peach and Mario heard of it, they feared the worst. A little later on, when Pararera and the Duplighosts appeared in town, they knew there was _really_ something weird going on.

Princess Peach actually sent some of her servants to go get General Guy and the Crystal King and bring them to her castle. The two of them certainly didn't want to, but knew they had no choice

Once they came to the castle, Peach wasted no time in asking them questions. "There's been reports of evil stars taking over Star Haven and kicking the Star Spirits and a Star Kid out," she explained. "Did you two have a run-in with one of those evil stars?"

"Yeah," Pararera mumbled. "This black star with a weird accent who had the ability to shape-change _much_ better than a Duplighost." He didn't add the part about him being so easily defeated by Deceptar, though everyone knew that was what had happened. 

"Weird accent? Shape change?" General Guy looked thoughtful. "I didn't see an evil star, but the Toy Box was taken over by this creature who spoke with a very strange accent and who first turned into a Spy Guy and then into me. This guy froze many of my Shy Guys solid, and then when I tried to attack him, he deflected the lightbulb's attack and ended up destroying my BEAUTIFUL NEW tank!" He clenched his fists. "Grrr!!! He MUST PAY!!!"

Peach was thoughtful. "So this evil star kicked both of you out of your home regions. Mario, where do you suppose he'll strike next?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Mario muttered. 

Toad was drawing on a map. "I think I might have something figured out. We're in North Mushlandia, and the Crystal Palace is right here, at the far northeastern corner of North Mushlandia." Toad drew an X where the Crystal Palace was. "That was the first place that this evil star went to."

"Duh," Peach answered. "And your point is?"

"Then, this evil star went to Shy Guys Toy Box, which isn't actually the far western corner of North Mushlandia, but close enough. Look!" Toad drew a relatively straight line from the Crystal Palace to Shy Guys Toy Box. "If he follows this pattern, he'll go somewhere to the far east again, and this means" Toad now drew a line to the Dry Dry Desert. "His next stop will probably be either the Dry Dry Ruins, or, the most probable, Dry Dry Outpost!"

Peach and Mario stared at each other for a moment, then at Toad. "How the heck did you figure that out?" Mario asked.

"I've actually spent some time thinking," Toad boasted. 

General Guy was impressed. "If you were a Shy Guy, I'd have you promoted to one of the top soldiers in a jiffy!"

Pararera had other things on mind "Don't tell me, you probably want the General and I to help you out on this one," he guessed. 

"If you promise not to try to kill any of us, sure," Mario answered. 

"That's a promise," the Crystal King agreed. "Just once we get the Crystal Palace back, I'm history!"

"Yes, I agree," General Guy added. "Anyone who takes over the Toy Box deserves capital punishment!!"

"It's settled, then," Peach concluded. "To the train station, everyone!"

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At the train station, they met up with Parakarry and Mayuri, who, along with another new Parakoopa friend, had just come back to Toad Town to report.

"Some evil veggies have taken over Dry Dry Outpost! We couldn't even get in town!!" Parakarry exclaimed. "We can't boot em out, either! We need some reinforcements!!"

Pararera gasped. "EVIL VEGGIES?!" he exclaimed, "The Crystal Palace was taken over by a group of evil veggies!"

"Goombario and Goombaria reported seeing three evil veggies near Goomba Village, too," Mario added.

"Was one of them a cucumber?" Mayuri asked. "This weirdo veggie was a cucumber with an army of turnips and pumpkins!"

"Our intruder was a potato with turnips and pumpkins," Pararera answered. "DUPLIGHOSTS!! Where is everyone?!"

That was answered when a few nearby girls screamed. 

"Aaaah!!! What the?! Why are there three mes?!"

"YAAAAAHH! THERE'S FOUR OF ME!!"

"DUPLIGHOSTS!!!" Pararera roared, "GET BACK HERE BEFORE I TEAR YOU A NEW PATCH IN THOSE SHEETS OF YOURS!"

Immediately most of the Duplighosts came, but the Crystal King was quick to notice two who were missing: his best ghosts, Cloner and Dupliana!

"Gah! Where are those two?! Well, let's get going"

"Uh, Boss," a Duplighost spoke up, "You're made of ice, so are you sure you should go to a desert?"

Pararera thought a moment. "Dang, you're right," he admitted. "I can't go to the desert! What was I thinking?! I'd melt!"

"Good point," Princess Peach agreed. "Why don't you just stay here and try to scare off anyone evil with those insane Duplighosts of yours?"

"Fair deal," Pararera agreed. "I'll stay here to (yeech) watch over Toad Town."

The other Parakoopa, a little female one with small wings, big eyes, and a reddish-purple shell, didn't speak until now. "I think one was heading for Toad Town. This carrot thing. He looked _really_ mean!"

Peach also finally noticed the little Parakoopa. "Hey, who are you?" she asked. "I haven't seen you before!"

"My name's Fauna," she answered. "I got lost in the desert, and they found me!" motioning to Parakarry and Mayuri.

"How can you be so sure about the carrot?" Mayuri asked.

"I saw it before I wandered to the desert," Fauna answered. "I was lost in the Forever Forest, and I saw the carrot, who was looking for the Boo Mansion but got lost in the forest instead! So he said he'd attack Toad Town! At least, that's what I heard it say."

Peach and Mario looked at each other. "How long ago was that?"

"4 days, I think."

"Why were you wandering out there, anyway?" Parakarry asked. "The Forever Forest and Dry Dry Desert are too dangerous for young ones like you!"

"Oh, um," Fauna stuttered, "I was looking for"

Fauna didn't get to finish, as just then the train conductor called out that they were ready to go. Mayuri agreed to keep Fauna in Toad Town with her, while everyone else left to go to Dry Dry Outpost.

As expected, Deceptar was waiting there for them as well

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"This town was so easy to take over, it's scary!" Cucumbersome chuckled. "And I could have sworn that some of Mario's friends live around here!"

"Moustafa, ya mean," Deceptar told him. "Good, I see I doan have to help you out, do I? Yer smarter than that dumb tater; what order did Wart make y'all in again?"

"First he put a carrot in the Vegginator, and that came up with Carroboscis," Cucumbersome explained. "That's why Carroboscis is the smartest of the three of us. Next was me, and last Potatocide. That's why Potatocide's so dumb: when it was done with him, the thing that makes us intelligent veggies was broken, and Wart hasn't been able to fix it!"

"That explains all," Deceptar agreed. "I'll jest be on my way now; I have ta go to—"

"MASTER CUCUMBERSOME!!!!" A frantic turnip was bouncing toward them. "Master Cucumbersome! Mario's heeeeeeere!!!! He and a few others are trying to break into Dry Dry Outpost!!"

Cucumbersome gasped. "WHAT?! What should we do!?"

Deceptar grinned. "Leave it ta me," he answered. "I'll take care o' Mario for ya!" Deceptar made a wish to look exactly like Mario, and that's precisely what happened

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Right outside the gates of Dry Dry Outpost, Mario's group was trying to break in, but they couldn't, for the wall was very high and the gate was locked!

"No guards, though," Peach mused. "So what should we do?"

"Beats me," Mario answered. "Too bad Luigi's not here. He's the smarter of us two brothers; he'd know what to do!"

Parakarry flew up to the top of the wall to look in. "Those veggies are still there," he commented. "What should we do? Order all the weed killer possible?"

"Nah, not these veggies, heh heh"

"Why do you say that?" Toad asked, turning to the one who had spoken. "Mario?"

"What?" Mario asked.

"Why did you say" realizing there were two Marios, "YAAAAHH! WHAT THE?!"

"Oh, no!" Princess Peach gasped, "What happened?"

"Jest one o' us is real," the fake Mario grinned. "Can ya tell which one?"

"Not really" Toad trailed off.

The fake one rolled his eyes, and turned into Toad! "NOW can ya tell?!"

"Yipes!" Toad gasped, "Yeah, yeah, I can tell Oh" Toad fainted!

"YOU!!!!!!" General Guy roared, "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STOLE THE TOY BOX FROM US SHY GUYS!!!" He took a fighting stance, ready to address his few troops who were there. "No one messes with General Guy and the Shy Squad and gets away with it! SHY SQUAD! ATTACK!"

Deceptar created a forcefield around himself, which actually wasn't necessary because the Shy Squad was too chicken to fight him anyway. "I'm here ta defeat ya!" Deceptar announced. "My pardner and I know that Mario's bout the only one who could possibly save all the Star Spirits and the Star Kid, so if I get rid o' you guys, we got no worries!

Mario frowned. "I don't think so," he said. 

"How can ya be so sure?!" 

"Because RUN FOR IT!!!!!!!!" Mario yelped and did so. Deceptar, too stunned to do anything else, shot a beam of power at the fleeing good guys. Fortunately for them, Deceptar had forgotten about one little thing: the forcefield. Nothing could get in the forcefield, neither could anything leave it. Thus, the power beam bounced off the forcefield and hit Deceptar instead! (Which, may I add, would look extra funny because Deceptar was still disguised as Toad!!)

"Well, that was worthless," Princess Peach panted once they reached the oasis. "All we did was run away from some powerful shape-changing thing"

"THAT'S THE SAME CREATURE WHO TOOK OVER SHY GUYS TOY BOX!!!" General Guy roared. "We have to teach him a lesson! _NOW!!! No one_ humiliates the Shy Squad and gets away with it!!"

"Unless they're Mario," the real Toad, who was conscious again, pointed out.

General Guy had no answer for _that_

"Maybe the thing will leave," Mario suggested. "Let's go try again."

So they did. Thankfully, Deceptar was gone, having left for his next location. It was just the good guys: Mario, Peach, Toad, General Guy, some of the Shy Squad, and Parakarry, left with Cucumbersome, the other evil veggies, and all the now-captive citizens of Dry Dry Outpost.

"Shouldn't be any different than the time we stormed through Bowser's Castle, right?" Parakarry nervously asked.

"Maybe not," Mario admitted, "But what can we scare veggies off with?"

"Weed killer," Toad suggested.

"No, that's too obvious." He frowned. "We need something else"

Princess Peach suddenly got an idea. "Oh! I know! We should" She whispered her plan to Mario, whose eyes lit up at the idea.

"She's right, everyone!! Back to Toad Town!"

Toad and General Guy exchanged confused glances. "OK"

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So, what exactly is Peach's plan? Toad, General Guy, and Parakarry pestered Mario and Peach about it the entire way back to Toad Town, but they would never tell. However, they quickly were able to figure it out when, getting off the train, Princess Peach and Mario suddenly grabbed the two nearest Duplighosts, Cloner and Dupliana, and literally dragged them onto the train!

"HEY!!!" Cloner yelped, "What's up?! The boss isn't in trouble, is he?!"

"He's still in Toad Town, you idiot," Toad reminded him. "You're not made of ice, too, are you?"

"No, we're not," Dupliana answered, "We're mysterious creatures who hide ourselves in sheets and love to mimic how people look, heh heh That's how we got the name Duplighost', you know!"

"I figured," Mario muttered. "We need you two to help us take over Dry Dry Outpost."

"He means re-take," Princess Peach corrected. "Did either of you see that black star?"

"I did," Cloner answered. He turned into it. "I'm the evil black star who took over the Crystal Palace, see?!"

"PERFECT!!!" Peach exclaimed, "Just hold that look until we get to Dry Dry Outpost, OK?"

"What about me?" Dupliana asked.

"We have something for you to do too," Peach answered. "We'll see once we get there."

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The pumpkin guards now stationed around Dry Dry Outpost let Cloner in without question, especially since he was trying very hard to imitate Deceptar's accent. Once he was in, Dupliana changed herself into a pumpkin, and was also let in with no question. However, when the guards were not expecting it, Dupliana suddenly changed back into her normal self to smash the pumpkins!

"Smashing Pumpkins!" Toad squealed. "All, right!"

"Hey," Mario chided, "Not like they're a band or anything"

Toad rolled his eyes. "Well, can we go in yet?"

"Nope!" Dupliana motioned to about 20 more evil pumpkins. "We still have work to do!"

"Shy Squad!" General Guy shouted to his troops, "Get those pumpkins, and I promise we'll have pumpkin pie and bread with dinner tonight!!"

The eight Shy Guys stared at each other for a moment, then ran around aimlessly screaming and flailing their arms at random. Finally one of them got the courage to jump on a pumpkin, who was squashed flat by the Shy Guy's slight weight. The others, seeing how easy they were to defeat, went on doing the same. But the pumpkins kept coming, and coming

"There's too many of them!" Dupliana yelped. "What should we do?!"

Mario got an idea. He took out a fire flower. "Everyone, stand back! Peach, use Psych Bomb!"

"What? OK" Princess Peach and Mario let out a barrage of bombs and fireballs. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left but a charred pile of former pumpkins.

Toad was wide-eyed. "Remind me to never make you two mad ever again"

Dupliana made sure that the coast was clear. "OK, everyone, let's go!"

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Even though Cloner had never been here before, he felt very sorry for the citizens of Dry Dry Outpost. They were being terrorized by the evil veggies; even the bravest people did not dare to wander from their homes. The only two were doing anything to try to stop them were Moustafa and Little Mouser!

Right now, he saw Little Mouser and Cucumbersome in an argument. "I refuse to sell anything to you," Little Mouser was saying. "You might as well just leave; there's no way that you and your veggies could survive in this searing desert heat for very long!"

"If you won't let us in, we'll force our way in!" Cucumbersome tried, but Moustafa, who was in the doorway and holding a very sharp pointed stick, stopped him. "Dumb mice!!!!! LET ME IN!!!!!"

"No, I'm afraid we cannot allow that," Moustafa told him. "Little Mouser, do you have the brine?"

"Ooh! Yeah!" Little Mouser ran into the shop, then came right back. "Hey, there's a huge vat of it right in here!"

Cucumbersome's eyes widened with fear. "B-brine?! I don't wanna be a pickle!!"

"Then I advise that you leave," Moustafa held out the stick.

"I won't let a few mice stop me!" Cucumbersome prepared to attack the little mice

Cloner knew he had to do something! He quickly shape-changed into the cucumber. "Hey, you imposter! What are you doing?!"

The real Cucumbersome stopped. "WHAT THE?!?! Who are you?!?!"

"Me? I'm, uh," realizing he didn't know Cucumbersome's name, "I'm I'm the cucumber who has taken over Dry Dry Outpost! Get out of here, you _nisemono_!"

"_NISEMONO?!" _Cucumbersome scowled. "GET OVER HERE, YOU STUPID IMPOSTER!"

Cucumbersome (who was _quite _hefty) tacked Cloner, who turned into his normal self from the damage inflicted. "Owwwwwwwwwwww That hurt"

Cucumbersome grinned. "You're a Duplighost," he observed. "Now to finish you!"

"HEY, WAIT!" The others, led by Dupliana, had caught up with Cloner in just the nick of time. Dupliana quickly shape-changed into Cucumbersome, and tackled him. "Ha ha! I'm a Duplighost, too, but I can also copy _attacks!!"_

"Darn you" Cucumbersome gasped, "Damage too much turning back into a normal cucum ber" Cucumbersome shrunk greatly, turning into a regular cucumber. 

Toad picked it up. "Wow, so if we do a lot of damage to these veggies," he commented, "they'll turn back into normal ones!"

"Duh," Peach told him, "I think everyone's figured that out by now!"

"What about the turnips?" Parakarry asked.

"You mean the ones surrounding us?" a Shy Guy asked.

"Yeah, those"

"Take cover," Mario warned, "For FIRE POWER!"

"Hello, Mario, we're in a town," Peach reminded him. "We can't use fire power or Psych Bomb, unless we want to kill ourselves and everyone on the block!"

"Oh, you're right," Mario admitted, "Er"

General Guy was about to tell the Shy Squad to attack when suddenly A shooting star came down! And another, and another

"It's raining stars!!" Toad exclaimed. "What's going on?!"

Peach just then spotted a familiar little Star Kid "TWINK?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

Twink chuckled, though he was still focused on destroying the evil veggies. "Yep, that's me!"

"How'd you get here?!" Mario asked.

"Well," Twink answered, "When Betrayar and Deceptar kicked me out of the Star Haven, I landed here! I was here for a few days, recovering, when that evil Cucumbersome showed up. I wasn't strong enough to beat Cucumbersome, but I didn't have to worry about that; I knew you'd save all us stars, Mario!!"

"Hey," Dupliana nearly growled, "It was ME who beat Cucumbersome!!!"

"I'm so glad you're OK," Peach continued, "So now we've finally found one of the stars!"

"Yeah," Mario muttered, "Just 7 more to go, eh?!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geez, that chapter stunk. I think it did, anyway. But, better than nothing and they finally found a star! 

So, where is Deceptar headed next? Will he stick with the old pattern? And who will be the first actual Star Spirit that the good guys will find? To be answered in Chapter 7! (Once I get it done!)


	7. A Close Call

Been a long time, ne? Too long... I finally got around to updating this again, though! I'll try to work on it more; it is going to be a LOOONG story, I'll tell you that right now!

This chapter's a bit short, and I don't think the quality's as good... And though they don't rescue a Star Spirit in this one, they will in Chapter 8! Can you guess who? (Shouldn't be that hard...)

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Chapter 7: A Close Call

Betrayar and Wart were talking on the phone once again, discussing Cucumbersome's unfortunate demise.

"I can't believe it" Wart was shocked, "One of my best I really expected that Potatocide would be the first to go! Not Cucumbersome"

"Not only that," Betrayar muttered, "That idiot Deceptar banged himself up pretty well in the Dry Dry Desert. He's resting here for a few days. The problem is, he did seem to have a pattern in where he was going, and Mario and his friends figured it out. THEN they found and rescued Twink!" Betrayar sighed with despair. "Once Deceptar's ready to leave again, I guess I'll have to start _telling_ him where to go."

"Where will you try for next?"

Betrayar was studying a map. "Well, I have no clue as to where the Star Spirits are," he answered, "But if we take over the two capital cities in North and South Mushlandia, then we'd have good control over everything!!"

Wart tried to think. "And the capital cities are uh"

"Toad Town and Mushroom Kingdom," the star answered, "Where the royal Toadstool families live."

"Oh, yeah! Isn't there other royalty too, though?"

"Yeeeeesss sort of But don't worry about them," Betrayar assured him, "Once the two main towns are taken over, the others will fall quickly!"

"What about the Boos? And that kingdom of marshmallows in the clouds?"

"Don't worry about them," Betrayar repeated. "The Boos are secluded in the Forever Forest, so we'll just get them later. Your Carroboscis can't find their mansion, anyway. As for that kingdom in the clouds, that's such a tiny, peaceful kingdom I wouldn't worry."

"OK" Wart still sounded uncertain. "So where will you send Deceptar next?"

"Mushroom Kingdom. Tell both Carroboscis and Potatocide to come to Toad Town to take it over. Using Carroboscis' brains and Potatocide's brawn, I'm sure they can pull it off!"

"Even if Mario shows up??"

"Even then."

Wart gulped, still unsure. "OK, whatever you say, Betrayar"

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"I think I see light over there, Master Carroboscis!" a turnip exclaimed. "Maybe that's the way out!"

"Nice," Carroboscis agreed, "But, where exactly is over there'?"

"OVER THERE!" The turnip pointed with one of the leaves on top of its head. Carroboscis, of course, saw nothing.

"There's nothing there, just one of those creepy white flowers," the carrot told it. "Keep going this way."

"We need a map," a pumpkin grumbled.

"What we need is a GPS," Carroboscis muttered. "Everyone, this way!"

Carroboscis was SOOOO embarrassed. Surely, someone with his mental capacity wouldn't get so easily lost, right? Well, after a mere ten minutes in the Forever Forest, Carroboscis and his army were hopelessly lost, without so much as a map to help guide them.

Carroboscis had entered the forest in hopes of finding the Boo Mansion or a Star Spirit. Whichever came first. So far, they had found neither

They had at one point run into this weird old man almost entirely covered with a long, white moustache. The man had warned them that the forest was full of dangers, and offered to guide them out. Carroboscis' pride wouldn't allow him to do that, so he just told the man to back off and leave his sight.

Maybe I should have just heard that guy out, Carroboscis thought. _I'd do anything to get out of this stupid—_

BRIIIING! BRIIING! BRIIII-

Carroboscis took out his cellphone and answered it. "Hello? Carroboscis speaking."

"Good, so I see you didn't meet with an untimely defeat"

"WART!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't heard from you for weeks!"

" I just called five hours ago"

"Well, it seems like weeks," Carroboscis was a bit embarrassed, "What's going on?"

"Where are you?"

"In this terrible, terrible place called the Forever Forest"

"You're still there?!"

"Yes, boss, I got a little, well"

"Lost?"

"Yes"

"Hmm" Wart thought a moment, "Have you found the Boo Mansion?"

"No, boss"

"Do you know the way to Toad Town?"

Carroboscis sighed. "No, THAT'S WHY I'M LOST!!!!!"

"Oh. I see Well, _if_ you ever find your way out of the forest, we need you to get to Toad Town to help take over"

"Take over?!" Carroboscis exclaimed, "Hmm, I could do it, if I ever find the town"

"We sent Potatocide there already, so I suggest you find your way out of the forest and into town!"

"Understood, sir. And if not that, I'll take over the Boo Mansion and Gusty Gulch. That would work, too, wouldn't it?"

"Hmm, yeah, it would. Since Lady Bow is an important figure on this planet _and_ she owns the mansion and seems to rule the Boos in that area!"

"Yeah, and a lady couldn't be _that_ hard to defeat, could she?" Carroboscis chuckled. "Well, we all have work to do; talk to you later, boss!"

Carroboscis hung up and put the cellphone away. "Well, we still have no idea where we are," he told his troops, "but we have _two_ full missions this time!"

"What are they?" a pumpkin asked.

"Well, we need to either A: find Toad Town and take it over or B: find the Boo Mansion and kidnap their mistress so that we rule the Boos. I vouch for plan B, since kidnapping a young lady couldn't be that hard and would be great practice, but whatever place we find first, that's what we'll attack."

As Carroboscis was soon to find out, though, kidnapping Lady Bow was not as easy of a task as he thought

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Meanwhile, in Toad Town, Mario, Peach, Luigi, and the others were trying to figure out where to go next.

Parakarry, Mayuri, and Fauna had left to go to Nimbus Land just to check on events there. No one had heard from King or Queen Nimbus or even from Prince Mallow for two days, so they were a little worried.

"You don't know where a Star Spirit, is, do you?" Mario asked Twink.

"For the last time, NO!" 

Peach was a bit more gentle with the Star Kid. "Twink," she softly asked, "Is there any way you can use your power to try to communicate with the other stars?"

Twink frowned, thinking. "I, I could try," he answered. "But I don't know if it would work. Since we don't have the Star Rod right now, our power is really small compared with what it should be."

But Twink would try. He closed his eyes, focusing as hard as he could. _Are there any Star Spirits around?_ he thought. _Please answer!_

He felt a response! A very faint one, but one nonetheless.

Unfortunetely, it was so faint he couldn't tell where it was coming from or even who it was.

So he continued focusing. _Please, come again? Can you just tell me who you are and where you are?_

Another response, just as faint.

Twink tried again. _Just tell me where you are!!_

The response was still faint, but the star mentioned something about a haunted forest Twink tried one last time, but he had used all his power. "Well"

"Did you get anything?" Peach asked.

"A _very_ faint response; in fact, I don't even know who it was, just they mentioned something about a haunted forest'."

"Haunted forest?" Peach turned to Mario and Luigi. "Suppose it meant the Forever Forest?!"

"Probably" Mario faltered, "That terrible haunted forest that Bow made us go through, just to get to her mansion and spook us with those other puzzles she laid out?"

"Yeah, that place!"

"How could anyone forget?!" Mario muttered.

"I guess we should just check it out, then," Peach suggested. "But, ah, some of us should stay here"

"To protect Toad Town?" Pararera asked. "I could do that. Just take Cloner and Dupliana with you."

"Yes!" The two Duplighosts just mentioned high-fived. 

"Duplighosts in the Forever Forest," Cloner chuckled, "This should get _interesting_"

"I'll stay too," Mario offered.

Everyone looked at General Guy. "The Shy Squad, in a haunted forest?" he seemed to think about it. "That would probably be quite a situation, I'll admit"

"Will you go or not?" Peach pressed.

"Um, hmm, yes, your highness, I will. Who in the Shy Squad is willing to go?!"

Not one word from the entire squad of fifteen Shy Guys.

"No one offers?"

Still silence.

"Ok, since no one is volunteering, the entire squad must go!"

Gasps of fear, but no one argued.

"We're set then," Peach finished, "Luigi, Twink, General Guy, the Shy Squad, these two Duplighosts, and I are going into the Forever Forest!"

"Just one thing!" Twink looked at Princess Peach. "Does anyone know their way through the forest??"

"Uh, no," Luigi answered, "but that's half that fun, ha ha"

Meanwhile, in the Forever Forest, Musty had just shown Wario and Waluigi how to get to the Boo Mansion from his little shack, and then Wario, who vouched that they _shouldn't _visit the Boos, led them to the top of Gusty Gulch.

"Geez," Musty commented, "This place is even more run-down than it was before It looks nice, heh heh"

"Who was that Tubba Blubba guy you were talking about?" Waluigi asked.

"Tubba Blubba? The guy who lived at the castle before you guys did?"

"Yeah, him!"

"He was this big turtle-like creature who was afraid of _everything, _and we Boos just loved to go and spook him, even beat him up sometimes!" Musty sighed at the fond recollection. "Those were the days"

"Yeah, just like we want to do to Mario! Nya ha ha ha ha ha!" Wario and Waluigi started their evil laugh.

"And what was this stuff about the Star Spirits?" Musty asked. "They got kicked out of the Star Haven?"

"Yep," Wario answered, "We want to find one before that mean lady ghost does."

"Her name's Bow," Musty reminded them. 

"Whatever."

Wario and Waluigi gave Musty a tour around their new castle, then packed some more supplies and left for the forest, with Musty as their guide.

"Ok, to get started, let's wander around this area today," Musty suggested, "and look for a sign that _anything _fell around here. Understand?"

"Yep!" the other two answered.

They searched for nearly an hour, but found nothing at all. Wario was starting to get a little discouraged, when

"LOOK!" Waluigi gasped, "What in the world is that?!"

Waluigi was pointing to a strange carrot-looking monster up ahead of them. 

"Ew, that's the most repulsive carrot I've ever seen," Kaphooey muttered.

Carroboscis was too busy trying to chart where the sun was to notice. "This would be a lot easier," he mumbled, "if you could see the sun at all"

"Hello~," Musty tried to get his attention, "It's NIGHTTIME!!! What on earth are you doing?! Are you lost?"

"Huh?!" Carroboscis was quite startled. Seeing the threesome with their two birds, the carrot got an idea. "Yes, I'm lost. Do you happen to know the way to Toad Town? Or better yet, what's closer: Toad Town or the Boo Mansion?"

"Boo Mansion" Musty faltered, "Why do I have a feeling that you're planning to do something bad?"

"No! I'm not, really, I'm not!" Carroboscis lied. "I, uh, am just looking for someone who is willing to sell me a GPS."

"A what?" Musty, Waluigi, and Wario had never heard of a GPS before.

"It stands for Global Positioning System', you idiots!" Kaphooey told them. "You use it to tell where you are!"

"That's right," Carroboscis agreed, "But could I get uh, could I get a map at the Boo Mansion?"

"I don't know," Musty truthfully answered. "Guys, let's go!"

Once Musty thought they were out of earshot of Carroboscis and his allies, he softly exclaimed, "Those guys are up to something! I can feel it, and I'm rarely wrong!"

"Not everyday that you see a carrot around here, is it?" Wario agreed. "But, uh, what should we do?"

"We'd better get to the Boo Mansion," Musty suggested, "To warn Bow and the others!"

Wario and Waluigi looked at each other. "Do we have to?" Waluigi asked.

"YES!!! Come on!!!!!" the three of them raced to the mansion.

In a nearby bush, a turnip had been listening.

"Master Carroboscis!" the turnip gasped, "They're going to the Boo Mansion!"

Carroboscis grinned. "Good," he said, "Let's follow them!"

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"OK, so how many is that?"

Igor counted by twos. "Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve Nope! Won't do! They ordered thirteen, not twelve!"

"What?! That can't be right!" Franky grabbed the order form to look it over again. "It says twelve!!!!"

"No, thirteen," Igor pressed, "They changed it because 13's our lucky number!"

Franky was still confused. "Well, whatever But I didn't see another apple around here, did you?"

The two Boos were busy at work trying to fill an order for 13 apples from a Boo in Gusty Gulch. Franky had picked every remaining apple off the Boo's apple tree, yet the order called for one more.

"Oh, well, I guess we can't fill their order all the way," Igor lamented, "We'll just put a note in there."

Igor wrote out the note, sealed the box, and gave it to Franky to deliver.

"Why me," Franky grumbled, "I always get to be the delivery Boo when Parakarry's gone"

He didn't get very far when he ran into Musty with a frantic Wario and Waluigi. Franky recognized his fellow Boo immedeately. 

"MUSTY!!!!!" he exclaimed, dropping the package, "What, why, where, _how?!_ I mean, what are you doing here?! I haven't seen you for ages!!"

"Since the Stone Age?" Musty joked, "It hasn't been THAT long!!!"

"Where'd you go off to?" Franky asked. "Even Lady Bow was wondering where you were. She said you probably left here to go back to Vanilla Dome."

Musty shook his head. "I stay in a shack not far from here," he answered. "My humble but very lonely and comfortable home. Bow asked about me?"

"Yeah, she was pretty worried at first but doesn't seem to care much now."

"Typical Bow," Musty muttered, "Anyway, um, let's see, what did I Oh! Yeah! We came to warn you about"

"An evil carrot coming to the Boo Mansion."

"Yeah, that's right!" realizing it wasn't Wario or Waluigi who had spoken, "Eh what?"

They turned around to see Carroboscis! "You are such fools," the carrot was saying, "We followed you here, and we've come to take over this nasty little forest!"

Franky was as wide-eyed as a Boo could possibly be. "Um, uh LADY BOW!!! WE'RE ABOUT TO BE ATTACKED!!!" He freaked out and flew into the mansion, with Musty and the other two close behind.

"Shut the door!" Musty hissed, then, "Darn!! No lock!"

"What's going on?!" Bow had just emerged from her third-story room, Bootler trailing behind. "Wha? Musty?"

"Hey, I'd love to stop and chat, but" Musty didn't finish, for Carroboscis had flung the door open.

"AHA!" the carrot exclaimed, "There's not even a lock on your cute little door! TURNIPS! GET EM!"

Bow kept her cool. "How are you and your turnips going to get us?" she scoffed. "Everyone! TURN INVISIBLE!"

All the Boos did so, which left only Wario and Waluigi as visible targets.

"Ah, crud," Wario muttered, "What do you suggest we do?!"

"Kaphooey!" Waluigi commanded, "Use your annoy attacks!"

"Gladly! Well, you see, guys, the other day I was with these two freaks and we saw" Kaphooey continued rambling, and the turnips turned to each other, utterly confused. Kaphooey would not stop talking, so one by one, the turnips gathered around Carroboscis.

"FIGHT THEM!" Carroboscis exclaimed. "Don't let that bird get to you!"

The turnips began to heed Until the chandeiler hanging over their heads mysteriously fell.

"Yeah!" Musty, the one responsible for the downed chandeilier, turned visible again. "Losers!"

Carroboscis was dazed, but got back up. "You'll pay!" he growled. He tried to lunge at them, but stopped suddenly. "OW! What just hit me?!"

"Do you want to know? Gwa ha ha ha ha!" The invisible Lady Bow continued to beat Carroboscis with her folding fan. "OUT, I SAY!" in the creepiest voice she could muster, "I can do worse than this!"

"That's what she told me," Wario mumbled under his breath.

Carroboscis took the hint. "Um, OK, but I'LL BE BACK!" Carroboscis fled with his remaining veggies.

Once he was gone, Bow and the others turned visible again. One of Bow's bows had become untied, so she hurried to straighten it. "I'll bet he'll be back," she said, "I just hope he doesn't come back soon"

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Meanwhile, Peach's group was hopelessly lost in the haunted forest

"Keep going, troops," General Guy was encouraging the Shy Squad, "The faster you go, the faster we'll be out of here!"

"Try to keep contacting that Star Spirit," Peach advised Twink. "That should help us find him or her."

"I'm trying!" Twink squeezed his eyes shut. _Where are you? Who are you? We're coming to save you!_

Hurry not too late

Twink stiffened. The signal was stronger. _Who are you? _he asked again._ Tell me your name!!_

I Misstar

"Misstar!" Twink exclaimed. "Keep going, guys! We're really close!"

"Misstar?" Luigi looked up at the little star. "What about her?"

"She's the one out here! I can tell we're close; the feeling of her presence is stronger." 

"Keep going!" Peach pressed. "I see the Boo Mansion just up ahead!"

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Well, that's all for this chapter... Stay tuned for chapter 8, which will come sooner or later.... Hopefully sooner.


	8. Another Star

(A/N: Look, I'm not dead!! And this story is being continued!! Amazing, ne?

You may wonder what motivated me to continue it... well, I'll tell you.

A few months ago, I went to Japan as an exchange student, and wasn't able to bring any of my video game systems. However, I was able to buy a few there, and the very first game I bought was Paper Mario. So I've been playing it like crazy again. While I was in Japan, I wrote these two chapters. They're not as good, and I don't really remember where I was going with the story, but I did write out an outline about what will happen, from start to finish, so I shouldn't lose my focus again.

Last month, though, I got my hands on Paper Mario 2 for the Gamecube, and this has just strengthened my resolve to finish it... and maybe I'll write a story about that game, too, but I'll wait until I finish it. (I'm kind of stuck in chapter 6 right now.))

Chapter 8: The Second Star

The Shy Squad all fled to the mansion, despite the fact that it looked so creepy.

Or, rather, they ran right _past_ the mansion, to the light of Gusty Gulch, much to General Guy's dismay.

"HEY!!" he roared at them. "STOP!! YOU'RE _SUPPOSED _TO...Darn it!" He chased after the Shy Guys.

The gate leading to Gusty Gulch suddenly snapped shut, right before the Shy Squad was able to run through it. They crashed into the fence and fell into a pile.

"AHH! It's HAUNTED!!" Some of them, the conscious ones, began to scream and freak out.

General Guy stopped and hid his face in his hands. "You guys are a disgrace to the army," he muttered.

"What possessed you to make an army out of Shy Guys anyway?" Cloner asked. General Guy didn't answer.

"Do they know we're coming?" Dupliana asked Peach.

"No," Peach answered. "I hope they're all right..."

The entered the mansion, though General Guy decided to stay outside with his squad, just in case.

"Look!" Luigi gasped. "The chandelier..."

"OH NO! Bad guys have entered!" Wario yelped. "AAH!"

"What the... _Wario?!"_ Luigi exclaimed. "What in the world are _you_ doing here?!"

"Um, um, visiting...?"

Bow suddenly appeared in front of Peach. "Your highness!" she said, "I'm so glad you're here! This place just got attacked by a giant carrot, you don't suppose that has anything to do with..."

"A carrot!" Twink exclaimed. "It must be one of the Evil Star's henchmen!"

"What, they recruit vegetables?" Bow asked, sounding cross.

"Apparently so," Peach answered. "Your ladyship, there is a Star Spirit somewhere in the forest! We came to ask you to help us find it."

"That so? Well, I'd love to help, but we need to protect this place. After having these two idiots mess up things in the mansion, the last thing we need is for this group of living vegetables completely take over the place," she sighed. "This isn't a place for the living, after all. And if they gain control of it, no telling _what_ they'll try next."

"Do you think you could send any Boos to help us? I'd assume you know this forest pretty well," Luigi added.

"Well... Hmm. Hey, everyone," Bow looked around, and, seeing that there wasn't a soul in sight, shouted, "HEY! TURN VISIBLE!!" The Boos quickly did so. "Any volunteers willing to help them find the Star Spirit?!"

Musty thought it over. _I really want to help protect the mansion,_ he thought, _But I know the forest better than anyone here!_ "I'll go," he offered. "Is that OK, your ladyship?"

"Fine with me," she answered. "Anyone else?"

"I don't think anyone else would be needed," Igor spoke up. "Musty has lived out here for... I dunno how many years, but it's been a long time. He knows the Forever Forest better than anyone."

"Hmm, you're right," Bow agreed. "Everyone else, help protect this place! Oh, but you two should leave," she said a little gruffly to Wario and Waluigi.

"And why should we?!" Waluigi asked defiantly.

"Because I wouldn't be surprised if that carrot decides to make your castle his hideout."

"SHE'S RIGHT!! No one's there!! And we left the door _unlocked!"_ Wario freaked out and ran, Waluigi right behind him.

"Whew, I'm glad they're gone," Bow sighed with relief.

"Where do they live?" Peach asked.

"Tubba's fortress."

"Wario and Waluigi live in North Mushlandia now. Just peachy," Luigi muttered. "Well, I suppose we ought to go and find that Star Spirit!"

Twink tried contacting Misstar again. _We're coming!_ he assured her. _Just hang on! And watch for an evil carrot!_

_I... will..._ came the faint response. _You... strong._

Twink smiled a little. "Come on, let's go! Misstar's waiting!"

"Good luck," Lady Bow told her departing friends, "And keep an eye out for that carrot."

"So... how do we go about this?" Luigi asked as they re-entered the forest. "Wait, where's General Guy?"

"Here," General Guy muttered from one corner of the house. The Shy Squad was in the corner, trembling. "What're we doing now?"

"This Boo is going to help us find the Star Spirit in the forest," Peach explained. "Then we'll go back to Toad Town."

"Hear that, troops? We're on our way back to Toad Town! So get out of that corner and come on!"

One by one, the Shy Squad emerged and joined General Guy. Soon, they all left for the forest, searching for Misstar.

"_Now _what are we doing?!" a turnip asked Carroboscis. "Don't tell me we're lost again!"

Carroboscis wouldn't answer. They'd taken a short walk around the Forever Forest with the intent of going back to the mansion, but, of course, had gotten lost. Again.

"We're lost. See? He won't answer, so that means we're lost," a pumpkin concluded.

The forest was unusually dark, so night must have fallen. Either that or they were so deeply into it that the sun couldn't shine through. Carroboscis knew that he'd probably lost some of his army here in the forest, but that was fine. Most were with him, anyway.

After two or three hours of traveling, he finally spotted light up ahead. Thinking it was probably Gusty Gulch, he went ahead and directed his army toward it.

The light, however, ended up being something better than Gusty Gulch. Something much, much better.

Toad Town!

"Hey, we made it to a... a town full of mushrooms!" a pumpkin observed. "What should we do, boss?"

"Oh, I know what we ought to do," he grinned. "Let's teach them a little lesson about respect for vegetables!"

"Hmm..." Mario was looking over maps of Mushlandia. "This is rather tough."

"No kidding," Pararera agreed, "Since we have no _clue_ as to where the stars landed..."

"There were reports of a shooting star near here, and in Flower Fields," Mario pointed to it on the map, "and in a few different places in South Mushlandia, I haven't heard the details yet."

"There was one in the Shiver Region, too," Pararera added. "I didn't see it, but I heard it from some of the Duplighosts."

"Well, if they find the Star Spirit in the Forever Forest, we should comb this area next and then move on to the Shiver Region and Flower Fields," Mario suggested. "In fact, I should probably go ahead and call Lakilester right now to tell him to organize a search party over there. Hold on a minute." Mario rushed to use one of the many phones in the castle.

Pararera stopped studying the maps, looking around the room. It was very nicely decorated, but he still ached to go back to the Crystal Palace. _I can't believe I've been brought down to this,_ he thought in shame, _Working with Mario to help him save the world... How low can you go?!_

Pararera well remembered his first run-in with Mario. Pararera had been a faithful underling of King Bowser for many years, and Bowser had finally given him a big assignment: protect the Star Spirit Kalmar from Mario at all costs. It took Mario a while to find him, but he finally singled him out for a battle... well, him and eight others, and won. Easily. Bowser had been so mad at Pararera that he had refused to ever talk to him again. Pararera was quite embarrassed, but didn't let it get to him. He still had the Crystal Palace in his command, after all.

But now, that palace had been taken from him. He wanted it back, regardless of the sacrifices involved. If he had to work with Mario, so be it. Anything to get his home back.

However, he wasn't sure if Mario or the Star Spirits held any resentment against him... they didn't seem to, but, you never know.

Mario came back. "Well, Lakilester promised he'd do what he can to find the Star Spirit," he said. "Let's continue planning."

Mario had just sat down when a mushroom person suddenly burst in. "Sorry to bother you, sirs," he said, "But an evil carrot has just been sighted by the entrance to the Forever Forest!!"

"Evil carrot?!" Pararera exclaimed. "Not _another_ evil veggie..."

"It must be one of Wart's henchmen!" Mario exclaimed. "Come on, we need to prepare for a fight!"

"I'll call the Duplighosts."

People fled into their houses when they saw Carroboscis and his army coming. A few Duplighosts, feeling brave, copied the looks of some of the turnips and pumpkins and followed them. Outside Peach's castle, Pararera, Mario, the rest of the Duplighosts, and others were waiting.

"Well, well, we meet at last," Carroboscis grinned when he saw Mario. "Outta the way, Tubby. This is _our_ castle now!"

"No," Pararera said simply. "You're not taking over this place."

"I can call my friend Betrayar if you're not being cooperative.

"You heard him, he said no!" Mario pressed.

"This is your last chance," Carroboscis just about hissed. "Give over the castle, or you might not live to regret it!"

"No!" Mario, Pararera, and the others held their ground.

"Fine then. It's your choice." Carroboscis closed his eyes and bowed his head, saying his wish aloud. "I wish that North Mushlandia was mine to rule, and that Mario and anyone on his side were banished from here – forever!"

Just as Carroboscis finished his wish, the black star appeared. "Wow, ya know, that's one o' the best wishes I'd heard yet!" Deceptar exclaimed.

"Well, well, we meet again," Pararera said coolly. "Having fun with the Crystal Palace?"

"Oh yeah, it's beautiful. Too bad you an' yer friends messed it up so bad!"

"The only one messing anything up is you."

"Nuh-uh, we're fixin' everything!" Deceptar grinned, and formed the forcefield around himself. "So, are ya gonna go peacefully, or d'we gotta do some convincing like last time?!"

Pararera summoned his crystal bits. "We're not going without a fight!" He flung all three of them – not at Deceptar or Carroboscis, but at a turnip at Carroboscis' side. The turnip let out a cry and shrunk, turning into a normal turnip.

"Attack!" Carroboscis exclaimed.

The Duplighosts took advantage of that, each of them copying either a turnip, pumpkin, Deceptar, or Carroboscis. Before long, everyone in the area around Peach's castle was engaged in a huge, confusing melee!

Everyone but the real Carroboscis, Deceptar, Mario, and Pararera fought. "Well, gotta hand this ta ya," Deceptar said to the Crystal King, "Those Duplighosts o' yers are more th'n willin' to put up a fight."

"That's because they have a sense of heroism," Pararera said coldly. "Unlike you."

"That so?" Carroboscis grinned. He locked eyes with Pararera, and his eyes began to glow a weird yellow color. Pararera suddenly felt sick, realizing that the carrot was trying to hypnotize him. He snapped his eyes shut, and the sensation stopped.

"Whoah," Carroboscis said, amazed, "You're strong. No wonder you're a 'king'. But you're no match for us."

"That's right!" With one sweep of a pointy black arm, Deceptar froze all those fighting, whether they were turnip, pumpkin, or Duplighost. "Now ta grant yer wish, Carroboscis."

Deceptar looked up at the sky and made the wish. Instantly, a massive bolt of lightning rained down on the area, hitting both Mario and Pararera. The two of them were flung to who knows where...

In the Forever Forest, Twink suddenly stiffened. "What's wrong?" Peach asked, concerned.

"I don't know... nothing, probably," he said quickly. "I think Misstar's really close, though!"

"What does she look like?" General Guy asked.

"She's all pink, a star of course, and she has a yellow shawl that she wears all the time."

"Ok, keep a look out for her, then," Musty commanded. "Can you ask her if there are any certain identifying marks of the area she's in?"

"I'll try," Twink responded. He shut his eyes tight, trying to use all of his strength to focus.

_Where are you?_ he asked her. _Tell us some things that might help us identify. We have someone with us who knows the area really well!_

It took a few moments for a response to come, but it was clearer than ever. ..._Big tree... weird red face. It scares me..._

"She said there's a big tree with a weird red face," Twink told Musty. "Know of anything like that?"

"Yes, I do," Musty answered. "We're right by it! This way!"

Musty led them to a clearing, where there was indeed a large tree with a creepy red face. The eyes watched them, though it seemed as though the mouth couldn't make any noise. General Guy shuddered and the Shy Squad stood stock-still. "Creepy..."

"Misstar?" Peach asked aloud. "I don't see her..."

"We need to look!" Twink said. He started looking in the bushes around the area.

"Well it's about time you showed up!" a familiar, soft voice said to him.

"Misstar!" he gasped. Her shawl had snagged on a tree, and she was tangled in it. Twink helped to free her. "Hey, everyone!" he shouted, "I found her!!"

"Are you all right?" Peach asked the star, noticing that she looked a bit beaten up.

"Oh, I'm fine," Misstar assured her. "A little tired, but that's all."

"What happened to you after we got kicked out of Star Haven?" Twink asked.

"Well, I landed here." She sighed. "I remembered Skolar's stories of this place... I thought it couldn't possibly be as bad as he said, but I was wrong. I was too weak to return to the sky, and quickly got lost here. Before long, that tree seemed to actually reach out and grab me, and I couldn't get away. I thought I was a goner until I felt you try to contact me, Twink."

"Well, we've rescued two stars now," Luigi said. "Musty, can you lead us back to Toad Town?"

"Sure can."

They all returned to Toad Town, and Musty left back to the mansion. In Toad Town, though, not all was right...

"It's too quiet," Peach looked concerned. "Where are the Duplighosts?"

"Maybe Mario called them into the castle for a meeting?" Luigi suggested. "What's weird is that there's not a single mushroom person around..."

"Intruders!!" a pumpkin yelped at seeing them. "Do you have a written pass from Carroboscis?!"

"From... who?" Luigi asked, confused.

"Excuse me, this is _my_ town, I'm allowed to come and go as I please," Peach told the pumpkin.

"This is Carrboscis' town," the pumpkin corrected. "Intruders must leave!"

Cloner had turned into the pumpkin. "No, no, he said they didn't need that anymore!"

"What?" the pumpkin asked, surprised. "He changed his mind...?"

"Yup."

"Well, in that case, OK..." The pumpkin let them pass.

They all but ran to Peach's castle. "Great," she muttered, "While we were gone, it looks like some evil veggie took over Toad Town..."

"What the heck happened here?" Dupliana and Cloner looked around in horror. "Everyone's..."

"Frozen," Cloner finished Dupliana's sentence in a sad tone, looking at a fellow Duplighost frozen in ice.

"Must be that evil veggie's fault," Toad grumbled.

"Not just any evil veggie, an evil, intelligent veggie." Carroboscis and Deceptar were waiting for them outside Peach's castle.

"YOU!!" General Guy exclaimed when he saw Deceptar, "You're the one who took over the toy box, aren't you?! Why, I oughtta..."

"A Shy Guy wit' an anger management problem, who woulda thought _that_ was possible?!" Deceptar laughed. "How are ya, General? Still teamed up wit' dat group o' cowards?"

"Yes, if you must know," the general muttered.

"What do you want?" Peach asked. "Where's Mario and Pararera?!"

"Dunno," Deceptar answered, "But they ain't _here,_ that's fer sure."

"What did you do with them?!" Dupliana demanded.

"Banished 'em. Like I'm gonna do to you." Deceptar made the wish, and... they disappeared in the same fashion that Mario, Pararera, and the Duplighosts did.

"Wait!!" Carroboscis exclaimed, "You idiot! There were two stars with them!"

"There... was?"

"Yes! You just banished them, too!"

"Oh, DARNIT, I didn't take a close look. Wuz too busy thinkin' o' other things," Deceptar muttered.

"Take a closer look next time!"

"Well, think I'll go back up ta Star Haven," Deceptar said, "I think Betrayar had a job fer me in South Mushlandia. See ya later, dun hesitate ta call again!"

Carroboscis set up headquarters in Peach's Castle, then decided to make another wish: a map of the Forever Forest complete with the location of the Boo mansion. In addition to that, a GPS. Carroboscis' wish was granted, and he set off to try to find the Boo mansion... again.


	9. The Fall of the Mansion

Chapter 9: The Fall of the Mansion

"This chain is _useless,_" Musty grumbled. "Rusty chains are nice, but they sure break easily."

"You can say that again," Franky agreed. "I'll go check to see if we have any extra chain in the basement, OK?"

"OK."

"Check for some lightbulbs, too!" Igor called after him. "It needs a new one!"

Musty, Igor, and Franky were working on fixing the chandelier in the lobby of the Boo mansion. It wasn't supposed to be a difficult task, but Musty had discovered that the chain holding it up was rusted through, so it couldn't be hung up anymore.

"So, tell me, where do you hide out there days?" Igor asked. "No one's seen you for years!"

"I have my own little shack. Those two guys found it, and wanted to know how to come here, so I let them," Musty explained.

"Will you move back?"

"Dunno, depends on if Bow would allow it or not."

"I'm sure she would. She's gotten nicer since she helped Mario save the world."

"Really? I see very little change in her," Musty muttered.

"That's because you haven't even talked to her yet! Try right now, I don't think she had anything going on."

"I'd better not. She still seemed shaken by that carrot coming here."

"Back!" Franky called, holding a chain in one hand and lightbulb in the other. "This chain is just rust-colored, not actually rusty... I think."

"It'll do fine!" Musty and Igor worked on fixing the chandelier, then hung it back up, over the doorway. "Is it straight?!" Musty called down to Franky.

"Yeah, looks perfect!"

"It looks wonderful. Good job, you guys," Bow praised them from her stance on the third floor balcony. She re-appeared on the first floor. "Does the light work?"

"It's only a ten-watt bulb, so don't worry about it. It just casts an eerie glow over things, heh heh." Franky flipped the switch. The glow from the light was a creepy yellow color.

"Gee, it makes us look like ghosts from Gusty Gulch!" Igor laughed.

"Next order of business," Bow said, looking at the door, "is installing a lock on this thing. Franky, did you see anything in the basement that could be used to bolt the door shut?"

"Oh, I didn't notice anything. I'll go check again!" Franky disappeared into the basement.

"I think I'll go look around in the other rooms, your ladyship," Igor offered, also vanishing.

"If they don't find anything, we could use the old fashioned metal pole across the door technique," Musty told her. "Do you really think that carrot will come again?"

"He said he would."

"Yeah, but what are promises from him worth?"

"I don't know. But I have a feeling he'll be back."

They both stayed quiet for a few minutes, when Bow suddenly asked, "Will you be staying long, Musty?"

"If you'd allow it, your ladyship, I'd like to."

"I'll allow it."

"Really?" Musty smiled. "Then I'll stay here for a while."

"Why did you leave in the first place?" Bow asked. "We were all worried about you..."

"Because I was being ignored," Musty mumbled.

"By whom?"

"By you."

Bow looked surprised. "I have other things to do, Musty... I can't lavish _all_ my attention on one Boo!"

"I know, I know, but, bleh, I was immature, I think I can handle it now," Musty laughed. "Sorry, your ladyship, that was probably a sorry judgment on my own part."

"I guess so," Bow agreed. "I've made my fair share of mistakes to though, bleh."

"We all do," Musty assured her, just as Igor came back.

"Your ladyship! I found a big combination lock!" He proudly showed it to her. "Would this work?"

Bow grinned. "Yes! Perfect! Now, I want some of you Boos to station yourselves outside and watch for that carrot. Musty, do you think you could lead the group?"

"Yeah!" Musty jumped at the chance. "I'd love to!"

"OK, so round up some Boos and start guarding!"

"Are we lost?" a turnip asked Carroboscis.

"No, we aren't," Carroboscis assured the little vegetable, one of the few left after Deceptar had frozen the vegetables along with the Duplighosts. "Just keep your eyes out for a big, run-down mansion."

Finally, they found it: nestled in a grove of ancient apple trees was the building they were looking for. Carroboscis hadn't taken a good look at it before. Many bricks were miscolored, a few roof tiles were missing, and a couple of windows were broken. It really looked like an abandoned house, all right. Hard to believe some of the toughest creatures in Mushlandia called this place home...

Carroboscis tried the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked," he realized. "Hmm... we need to find a way to—"

"AAAH! Master Carroboscis, HELP!" The few turnips and pumpkins who had followed him were being pelted with apples from an unknown source.

"You dumb Boos," Carroboscis grumbled, then made a silent wish. _I wish that those stupid ghosts would lose their ability to turn invisible! Every last one of them!_

Carroboscis' wish was instantly granted. Two Boos appeared over the vegetables, one white in color, the other beige. A few other Boos became visible, too, including the bluish one who had led Carroboscis there the first time.

"Ah, Franky!" the beige one gasped, "You're visible!"

"Herbert, you are, too!"

"Huh?!" Herbert realized it was true. "Aah!" He tried vanishing, but nothing happened.

"Uh-oh..."

"Retreat!" the bluish one shouted, and they all went into the mansion – through a wall.

"What should we do?" a pumpkin asked.

"Well, since the door's locked..." Despite the fact he had no visible arms, Carroboscis managed to pick up a nice-sized rock and hurled it at a first-floor window. The window shattered. He grinned. "The door's locked, but the glass is weak. Prepare to attack, everyone!"

"He's back, he's back, your ladyship!" the frantic Musty called to Lady Bow. "And to make things worse..."

"We can't turn invisible anymore!!" Franky wailed. "What will we do?!"

Bow thought it over. It would be hard to fight while visible: it was just something that Boos didn't do. But, suddenly, she got an idea...

"Can you still go through walls?" she asked Franky.

"Y, yes..."

She smiled. "That's all we need, then. If you can hide on one side of a wall, when the carrot passes by on the other side, attack him. He won't be able to see you coming, so it should work."

"Lady Bow, you're a genius!" Musty exclaimed. "OK, everyone, hide in or around the walls of the main first-floor room. That's where the carrot will enter."

So they did that, most of the Boos hiding in a different room or inside the wall. Musty decided to hide in the staircase. The carrot and his small army entered.

"Hey, where'd they go?" a turnip asked. "It's empty!"

"Maybe they fled," the carrot grinned. "Go ahead and start setting up base. Eck, this place is a mess..."

Carroboscis had wandered by the door to another room, and before he could open it, one of the Boos, Stanley, suddenly came out of the wall next to the door and hit the carrot over the head with a weight. "Heh heh, like my welcoming present?!" Stanley then flew up into the air, well out of the carrot's reach, while another Boo, Igor, dropped a crate full of old apples on Carroboscis.

"Mine's better!" Igor laughed, flying up to join Stanley. The two high-fived.

Carroboscis was dazed, and had a major headache. "Why, you...!" He tried to jump, slipped on the rotten apples, and ended up falling on a couple of turnips, crushing them.

"He defeats his own henchmen," Stanley pointed out, laughing.

Franky, in his hiding place inside the wall, hit Carroboscis with an apple core fired from a slingshot. He then started firing at the pumpkins and turnips, and was soon joined by Herbert, firing pebbles from a pea shooter.

"Ah!" The pumpkins and turnips were freaking out. "Boss! What do we do?!"

Carroboscis wasn't about to give up this time. "DECEPTAR!! I need your help!"

Just as Carroboscis said that, the black star appeared, laughing. "Yikes, Carroboscis, yer havin' a lot o' trouble with these ghosts, ain't ya? I was wonderin' when you'd call fer help!"

"Just shut up and defeat them for me," Carroboscis muttered, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Ya didn't say please."

While the two of them were talking, Musty, holding a weight bigger than the one Stanley had been holding, decided to try hurling it at the star. "Hey! Get out!"

"Yowch!" The star turned around. "Eh, what's the big idea?! Ya know you cain't turn invisible, right?!"

"Of course," Musty said bravely, "But, as that weight should have told you, we won't go down without a fight."

"That much we've figured," Deceptar muttered, then shape-changed into Musty. "But we stars got special advantages! So, whaddya want me to do with 'em, Carroboscis?"

"Anything, just make it clear to them that this building belongs to _me_ and they aren't welcome here anymore!"

"Well then, I'll just get rid of them then. Bye bye, ghosts!" Deceptar was about to make a wish when...

"Stop!" Lady Bow, having watched the whole thing from the third-floor balcony, suddenly flew down to face the star. "I need to talk with you first."

"What?" Deceptar asked, suspicious.

"Give us back the ability to turn invisible, and we'll leave peacefully," Bow told him.

"Wha, what?! Bow, are you nuts?!" Musty hissed at her. "You're _willing_ to give this place over?"

Bow glared at him in such a way he knew he shouldn't try to reason with her again.

"Where would ya go?" Deceptar asked, even more suspicious.

"Wherever you tell us to go."

Deceptar thought it over. "OK, but under one condition."

"What's that?"

"Yer the ruler of the Boos in this area, right?"

Bow nodded.

"Then you gotta stay here, as our captive. An' you still cain't turn invisible. But we'll give the rest o' the Boos back their ability to turn invisible. And they gotta leave."

"Hey, no way!" Musty and a few others spoke up.

"We're not leaving Lady Bow with _you_ creeps!" Igor exclaimed.

"No kidding! We'd rather die again!" Franky shouted.

"The ancestors would not like it!" Bootler added.

"I accept that," Bow said somewhat softly.

"Wha-WHAT?!" Musty was shocked. "But, Lady Bow--"

"We can't do anything without the ability to turn invisible," Bow pointed out. "And I trust you and Bootler to do a good job of watching the rest of the Boos."

"But, but..."

"No buts about it," Bow said sternly. "I'll stay here, you guys had better leave. Now!"

Rather than arguing with her, Musty rushed the rest of the Boos out. Franky tested the invisibility technique. It worked.

"Well, that star kept his promise!"

"I wonder where Mario and the others are," Musty sighed, "We'd better find out..."

"Where should we go?" Stanley asked.

"Toad Town, I guess."

"Ugh..."

Dupliana had never had such a bad headache before. She _still_ wasn't sure what had happened...

The black star had banished all of them to... Somewhere. She didn't know where she was. Was anyone else here, too? Cloner? Princess Peach? The Crystal King?

She finally opened her eyes, to see... the sky. And... clouds.

But the clouds weren't in the sky, she was lying _on _one...

She let out a surprised yelp and got to her feet. She was on a cloud, yes. Nearby, lay Princess Peach, the pink star, and Twink.

The pink star had just sat up. "Aah," she moaned, "This can't be good for me..."

Dupliana tried waking up Princess Peach. "Your highness, are you all right?"

"Hmm... I think so," Peach managed to sit up. "Twink?"

Misstar tried waking him. "Hunh? Ah! Where are we?!" Twink quickly got up.

Peach looked around. "This looks strangely familiar..."

"Where are we?" Dupliana asked.

"I'm not sure..." Peach got to her feet. "Let's take a look around."

A few minutes of walking around brought them to a small town, complete with a fair-sized castle that... seemed to be made of... ice cream? "Aha, just as I thought! This is Nimbus Land, near South Mushlandia."

"How'd we end up here?!" Dupliana wondered aloud.

"It's Deceptar's doing, I'm sure," Misstar sighed. "Those darn stars, I hope someone teaches them a lesson in respect soon!"

"Misstar, can you try contacting the other honorable Star Spirits to see if anyone's nearby?" Twink asked. "I know you're much more powerful than me!"

"Certainly." Misstar closed her eyes and focused with all her might. _Eldstar, Mamar, Skolar, Klevar, Muskular, Kalmar, can any of you hear me?_

No response. Misstar then realized that they might not respond if they didn't know who she was. _This is Misstar, Twink is with me. If you can hear me, please respond!_

But Misstar got no response. "Either my power is too weak, or theirs is so weak they don't notice it," she sighed. "Where should we go...?"

"Well..." Peach thought a moment, then remembered, "I told Parakarry and Mayuri to come here a while ago, I want to see if they're still here."

Peach managed to get an immediate audience with the king and queen. She and Misstar told them the story.

"Wow, that sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?" Prince Mallow commented once they'd finished. "Sounds like when Smithy destroyed the Star Road..."

"And we had to find the seven Star Pieces to fix the road," Peach finished. "Yes, it is a lot like that."

"Down to the fact that there are seven Star Spirits," Queen Nimbus added. "I'm sorry, but Parakarry and Mayuri are no longer here, they left a little while ago."

"Where did they go?" Peach asked.

"I'm afraid we don't know," King Nimbus sighed. "They didn't say."

"Should we look for them?" Luigi asked.

"I think it's more important to find Eldstar first," Misstar told him.

"Well, who knows, maybe we'd run into them looking for Eldstar, or vice versa."

"Do you need help in re-taking Toad Town?" King Nimbus asked.

"Well, we're going to focus on that later," Peach said, "I want to see what Mario and the Crystal King have to say on the matter."

"If they landed somewhere around here," Dupliana muttered. "If not, maybe we'll _ never_ find them."

"We'll find them," Peach sounded sure, "And we'll get Toad Town and the Crystal Palace back, just wait and see!"

"Take over South Mushlandia, eh?" Wart was talking to Betrayar on the phone. "Sure, I can manage it!"

"All you have to do is take Mushroom Kingdom, the other cities should follow easily," Betrayar assured him. "I already told Potatocide and Carroboscis to go there, and Deceptar will be there to help you out."

"Even better," Wart said. "What are the chances of someone like, uh, Mario showing up?"

"To be honest, I don't know," Betrayar admitted. "But if he does, Deceptar will take care of him, so don't worry."

"Good. I hate dealing with that guy."

"We all do. Well, Wart, I will tell Deceptar to go down to Mushroom asap, so you'd better hurry there, too!"

"I'm on my way!" Wart promised before hanging up.

Wart had created a special fruit and vegetable salad, I mean, army, just for himself: broccoli, asparagus, radishes, and melons.

_With this group, no one will beat me!_ Wart thought happily. _Who would want to face all these veggies at once, eh?! If only they were a little smarter..._

Once the Boos got to Toad Town, they could tell something was wrong. Horribly wrong. It was _way_ too quiet. The Boos with Musty (some had stayed at Gusty Gulch) kept invisible as they wandered around town.

"This is weird," Igor muttered. "Where _is_ everyone...?"

At the castle, they saw that many veggies and Duplighosts had been frozen into ice. "Oh, no!" Musty gasped, "Looks like we lost a battle here..."

"Hey, I see a couple of pumpkins over there!" Franky said softly. "Should we go and see...?"

"Spy on 'em, guys, and if they say nothing about where everyone is," Musty grinned the last part, "Spook 'em!"

That's precisely what Franky ended up doing. The pumpkins were talking about something else, and only when Franky started hitting them randomly with a stick would they talk about where everyone was. "They were banished to South Mushlandia!" one of the pumpkins wailed. "Now will you leave us alone, mean ghost?"

"Where in South Mushlandia?!" Musty demanded.

"I dunno, but Master Carroboscis had orders to go to Mushroom Kingdom..."

"Oh, great, that's the capital city!" Musty groaned. "Come on, guys, we're off to Mushroom Kingdom!"

Mario, Pararera, Cloner, Luigi, and a few others had landed near Tadpole Pond – actually, Pararera, General Guy, and about half the Shy Squad had landed IN the pond – and were currently deciding what to do next.

"This is not good," Mario mused.

"Well, duh!" Pararera was understandably in an unusually bad mood.

"Where do you think we ought to go?" Luigi asked. "I really, really, _really_ think we ought to go tell the chancellor."

"I'd agree. But Mushroom Kingdom isn't exactly close."

"It's not that far though."

"I know, but still..."

"Telling the chancellor sounds like a good idea to me, too," General Guy broke in.

"Actually, before we do that, I want to go talk to Frogfucious." Mario got up and started to walk away.

"Who?" Pararera called after him, then got up himself and followed him. "You want to see who?"

"Frogfucious. He's a sage who lives in this area."

"Oh. A frog?"

"Yup."

"As if the name doesn't give it away," Pararera muttered.

Mario led Pararera to Frogfucious' small home, and the old frog invited them both in for a chat. "I've already heard of what's been happening in North Mushlandia," Frogfucious said sadly. "These new villains are much tougher than Bowser or Smithy."

"That's because they have one major advantage: they are smart and know this planet quite well," Mario sighed. Frogfucious simply nodded.

"Their only weakness is the Star Rod," the frog continued. "Once you've found the other six stars, then you'll be able to face them."

"Other six...?" Pararera looked confused.

"Peach already found two of them."

"Oh, she did find the one in the Forest Forest!" Mario looked relieved. "You don't happen to know where they are, do you...?"

"I just got a report from Mallow a little earlier saying that they stopped by Nimbus Land, but they're already gone. However, rather than searching for them, I would suggest going straight to Mushroom Kingdom. The news about what happened at Toad Town and the Crystal Palace has the chancellor _very_ worried."

"We're on our way," Mario promised.


End file.
